Basel leaves it late to shock Bayern

Soccer Betting Lines

02/22/2012 - Basel, Switzerland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Basel continued its impressive Champions League campaign on Wednesday, leaving it late to shock Bayern Munich with a 1-0 victory at St. Jakob-Park.

In a back-and-forth match where both sides traded scoring opportunities, Basel landed the only actual blow as Valentin Stocker scored in the 86th minute.

Stocker collected a through ball on the left side of the box before calmly slipping a shot through the legs of Bayern goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, denying the visitors the chance to head back to Munich level on aggregate.

The late goal proved to be the climax in a match not short on entertainment value.

Franck Ribery had two early chances to put Bayern in front but he was foiled on both occasions by Yann Sommer.

The French attacker found himself inside the six-yard box in the third minute with only Sommer to beat, but the Swiss 'keeper stretched out his hand to deny Bayern the opening goal.

Ribery broke through again in the 12th minute after latching on to a through ball, but Sommer deflected the shot out of play to keep Bayern at bay.

Basel responded with several close scoring opportunities.

Marco Streller's effort in the 16th minute forced a brilliant save from Neuer who pushed the shot off the post. The ball trickled along the goal line before being cleared to safety by the Bayern defense.

Alexander Frei came inches away from opening the scoring in the 19th minute when he lashed a shot on goal. His attempt beat Neuer but rattled the crossbar and bounced back into play.

David Alaba smashed a shot from distance in the 29th minute that looked destined for the roof of the net, but Sommer palmed the ball away to once again deny Bayern.

Philipp Lahm was the first player to create a decent scoring chance in the second half as the Germany international cut inside in the 68th minute and unleashed shot from outside the box, but Sommer came up big again to parry the attempt away.

The visitors were left to rue their misses as Stocker's late goal ensured a one-goal Basel advantage for the second leg, slated for March 13 at the Allianz Arena.

Basel will advance with a win, draw, or any loss by a one-goal deficit in which the Swiss side scores.

Marseille 1, Inter Milan 0

Marseille, France - Andre Ayew scored his fourth goal of the Champions League season in dramatic fashion, as his header in the dying minutes lifted Marseille to a 1-0 victory over Inter Milan at the Stade Velodrome on Wednesday.

Inter Milan looked destined to take a scoreless draw back to the San Siro for the return leg, but Ayew nodded a corner kick past Julio Cesar deep into second-half stoppage time to help Marseille steal the win.

The French club will head to Italy for the replay on March 13, leading the Italian giants 1-0 on aggregate.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.