United to face Celtic, Villarreal in CL group play

Soccer Betting Lines

08/28/2008 - Monaco, France (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Manchester United, which won the Champions League last season, was drawn into Group E of the 2008-09 edition on Thursday with Scottish champions Celtic, Spanish runners-up Villarreal and Danish club AaB.

The two British giants played in the Champions League two seasons ago, with Man United coming out on top at Old Trafford by a 3-2 scoreline, while Celtic edged United 1-0 at Parkhead.

Last season's Champions League runners-up, Chelsea, has been paired with Roma, Bordeaux and shock Romanian champions CFR Cluj in Group A. Liverpool has been drawn alongside Marseille, PSV Eindhoven and Atletico Madrid in Group D.

Liverpool advanced to the group stages with a highly unconvincing 1-0 aggregate win over Belgian champions Standard Liege. Liverpool captured the second leg in extra time on Wednesday, 1-0.

England's fourth representative, Arsenal, is in Group G with FC Porto, Dynamo Kyiv and Fenerbahce. The Gunners powered through to the group stages with a commanding 6-0 aggregate win over Dutch side FC Twente.

The group stage starts in mid-September. The first matchday is Sept. 16, with games also on Sept. 17.

Following is the complete group draw:

Group A: Bordeaux, CFR Cluj, Chelsea, Roma.

Group B: Anorthosis, Inter Milan, Panathinaikos, Werder Bremen.

Group C: Barcelona, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk, Sporting Lisbon.

Group D: Atletico Madrid, Liverpool, Marseille, PSV Eindhoven.

Group E: AaB, Celtic, Manchester United, Villarreal.

Group F: Bayern Munich, Fiorentina, Lyon, Steaua Bucharest.

Group G: Arsenal, Dynamo Kyiv, FC Porto, Fenerbahce.

Group H: BATE Borisov, Juventus, Real Madrid, Zenit St Petersburg.

(Courtesy of sportbox.tv)

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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.