Soccer Sports News & Betting

Results Tuesday in English football (home teams listed first).

League Championship

Barnsley 3, West Bromwich Albion 1

Bristol City 2, Blackpool 0

Crystal Palace 0, Sheffield Wednesday 0

Cardiff 6, Derby 1

Doncaster 0, Swansea 0

Middlesbrough 0, Leicester 1

Peterborough 1, Plymouth 2

Preston 1, Reading 2

Sheffield United 3, Ipswich 3

Watford 2, Coventry 3

League One

Brentford 2, Southend 1

Colchester 3, Charlton 0

Exeter 1, Swindon 1

Leeds 1, Carlisle 1

Millwall 0, Yeovil 0

Norwich 4, Leyton Orient 0

Oldham 2, Milton Keynes Dons 1

Southampton 2, Bristol Rovers 3

Stockport 2, Hartlepool 2

Walsall 2, Huddersfield 1

Wycombe 0, Tranmere 1

League Two

Barnet 2, Dagenham Redbridge 0

Burton 1, Macclesfield 1

Cheltenham 1, Shrewsbury 2

Crewe 2, Bury 3

Darlington 0, Rochdale 2

Hereford 2, Bournemouth 1

Lincoln 0, Notts County 3

Morecambe 0, Bradford 0

Northampton 3, Rotherham 1

Port Vale 2, Accrington 2

Torquay 1, Aldershot 1

Sept 29 - Champions League collated results of Tuesdays matches.

Group E

At Ferenc Puskas Stadium:

Debrecen 0 Olympique Lyon 4

Scorers: Kim Kallstrom 3, Miralem Pjanic 13, Sidney Govou 24, Bafetimbi Gomis 51

Halftime: 0-3

Referee: Tom Henning Ovrebo (Norway)

- -

At Artemio Franchi stadium

Fiorentina 2 Liverpool 0

Scorer: Stevan Jovetic 28, 37

Halftime: 2-0

Referee: Felix Brych (Germany)

- -

Group F

At Nou camp.

Barcelona 2 Dynamo Kiev 0

Scorers: Lionel Messi 25, Pedro 76

Halftime: 1-0

Referee: Bjorn Kuipers (Netherlands)

- -

At Central stadium.

Rubin Kazan 1 Inter Milan 1

Scorers

Rubin Kazan: Alejandro Dominguez 11

Inter Milan: Dejan Stankovic 27

Red card: Mario Balotelli (Inter Milan) 61

Halftime: 1-1

Referee: Terje Hauge (Norway)

- -

Group G

At Ibrox

Rangers 1 Sevilla 4

Scorers:

Rangers: Nacho Novo 88

Sevilla: Abdoulay Konko 50, Adriano 64, Luis Fabiano 72, Frederic Kanoute 74

Halftime: 0-0

Referee: Jonas Eriksson (Sweden)

- -

At Steaua stadium, Bucharest

Unirea Urziceni 1 VfB Stuttgart 1

Scorers:

Unirea Urziceni: Serban Dacian Varga 48

VfB Stuttgart: Serdar Tasci 5

Halftime: 0-1

Referee: Laurent Duhamel (France)

- -

Group H

At Emirates stadium

Arsenal 2 Olympiakos Piraeus 0

Scorer: Robin van Persie 78, Andrei Arshavin 86

Halftime: 0-0

Referee: Stephane Lannoy (France)

- -

At DSB stadium

AZ Alkmaar 1 Standard Liege 1

Scorers:

AZ Alkmaar: Mounir El Hamdaoui 48

Standard Liege: Moussa Traore 90+1

Halftime: 0-0

Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson hailed the contribution of Wayne Rooney before the Champions League match against VfL Wolfsburg on Wednesday, five years on from the strikers stunning debut.

Rooney scored a magnificent hat-trick against Turkish side Fenerbahce in 2004, sending Old Trafford into raptures and truly announcing himself on the world stage at the age of 18.

It was a marvellous start, to score a hat-trick on your debut and he wasnt really fit, Ferguson told a news conference on Tuesday.

He hadnt played for about 10 weeks or something which was a remarkable feat and his progress has never at any point disappointed us.

When we signed him as a young kid, we thought, exactly as we do today, that he would become a really top player and hes going in that direction without question.

Ferguson outlined Rooneys desire to win and refusal to give in as his key attributes before the visit of the Bundesliga champions, who came from nowhere to beat the likes of Bayern Munich, Hamburg and Stuttgart to the German title.

Hes blessed with certain ingredients that only great footballers have, Ferguson said.

Its the determination and hunger to win every match, every time he goes on the field, every training session.

Hes blessed with that and itll never change for him.

BEST PLAYER

Ferguson said Rooney could one day overtake former Manchester United player Cristiano Ronaldo as the best player in the world.

We sometimes wonder with the criticism about what footballers get paid but when you see that effort he puts in, hes worth every penny hes paid because he plays as if he means it and its a wonderful thing to have, Ferguson said.

There are some great footballers out there like Kaka, Ronaldo and Messi.

Theyre the three best players in the world and Wayne could easily get to that level with the right progress.

Wolfsburg beat CSKA Moscow in their opening Group B match and United came away from Besiktas with a 1-0 win.

Wolfsburg probably are the main dangers to qualifying, said Ferguson who is bidding to take United to their third Champions League final in a row.

I think its a measure of where they are and we admire that that their approach reflects our approach to the game too. It may turn into a very open game.

Champions League odds for Matchday 2 of the 2009/10 competition are now available at the Pinnacle Sportsbook, following the completion of the first set of fixtures. There were very games that went against the Champions League betting at Pinnacle Sports on matchday 1. Juve’s 1-1 draw with Bordeaux in Italy, was unexpected, while Arsenal saved themselves from a shock against Standard Liege, winning 3-2 having been 2-0 down. Get up to 60% better Champions League betting for the matchday 2 (September 29th & 30th) available to just 102% with 1.96/1.96 style Asian Handicaps at Pinnacle Sports.

Juventus Facing Early Pressure Away to Bayern Munich

Juve’s failure to beat Ligue 1 side Bordeaux at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin was the biggest shock of matchday one. The Old Lady was a stong favourite for the match on the Champions League betting at Pinnacle Sports, not least because they had made such a strong start to the new Italian season. The game against Bordeaux was Ciro Ferrara’s first European fixture as a manager, and he has little time to dwell on the experience as his side next plays the mighty Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena, where defeat would leave the Italians in a perilous position.

The Bavarians eased passed Maccabi Haifa 3-0 in Israel, who look like Group A whipping boys, leaving the battle for the two qualification places between Juventus, Bordeaux and Bayern Munich.Juve will hope Brazilian, Diego, is back from injury for this fixture. He was missing against Bordeaux, and having spent so long playing in the Bundesliga for Werder Bremen, will know their opponents as well as anyone. The Germans start as favourites: Bayern Munich 1.813 (0 & -0.5)*, Juventus 2.140 (0 & +0.5)* - a market priced to 102%.

Results from the fifth round of Spains first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Saturdays Games

Real Madrid 3, Tenerife 0

Athletic Bilbao 0, Sevilla 4

Malaga 0, Barcelona 2

Valencia 2, Atletico Madrid 2

Sundays Games

Mallorca 3, Valladolid 0

Espanyol 0, Xerez 0

Osasuna 1, Sporting Gijon 0

Almeria 2, Racing Santander 2

Zaragoza 3, Getafe 0

Deportivo La Coruna 1, Villarreal 0

Saturday, October 3

Tenerife vs. Deportivo La Coruna

Barcelona vs. Almeria

Atletico Madrid vs. Zaragoza

Sunday, October 4

Xerez vs. Malaga

Villarreal vs. Espanyol

Sevilla vs. Real Madrid

Valladolid vs. Athletic Bilbao

Sporting Gijon vs. Mallorca

Getafe vs. Osasuna

Racing Santander vs. Valencia

Results from the Norwegian first division (home teams listed first).

Saturdays Game

Fredrikstad 1, Lillestrom 0

Sundays Games

Stabaek 3, Stromgodset 1

Lyn 0, Tromso 1

Viking Stavanger 1, Alesund 1

Sanderfjord 1, Start 0

Bodo Glimt 0, Valerenga 2

Molde 0, Rosenborg 2

Mondays Game

Brann vs. Odd Grenland

Results from the seventh round of the French first-division football league (home teams listed first).

Saturdays Games

Valenciennes 3, Marseille 2

Nancy 2, Sochaux 1

Lorient 1, Paris Saint-Germain 1

Monaco 1, Saint-Etienne 2

Montpellier 1, Boulogne 0

Auxerre 2, Grenoble 0

Lyon 2, Toulouse 1

Sundays Games

Le Mans 3, Lens 0

Lille 1, Nice 1

Bordeaux 1, Rennes 0

Results from the seventh round of the Bundesliga, the German first-division football league (home team listed first).

Fridays Game

Nuremberg 0, Bochum 1

Saturdays Games

Wolfsburg vs. Hannover

Borussia Dortmund vs. Schalke

Werder Bremen vs. Mainz

Cologne vs. Bayer Leverkusen

Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Stuttgart

Hamburger SV vs. Bayern Munich

Sundays Games

Freiburg vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach

Hoffenheim vs. Hertha Berlin

IFK Goteborg goalkeeper Kim Christensen has been cleared to play for the Swedish league leader this weekend, three days after admitting he moved the posts to make the goal slightly smaller during a midweek game.

The Swedish Football Associations disciplinary committee said Friday that a possible suspension or fine will not be decided until Oct. 1.

We are investigating (the case) until then, disciplinary committee chairman Kenneth Tallinger told newspaper Expressen. It has attracted attention and the players want it to be settled as soon as possible because its near the end of the season.

Christensen was caught by TV cameras pushing the posts toward each other, moving the bottom parts inward by a few centimeters (inches), before a game against Orebro.

Referee Stefan Johannesson spotted that the posts had been moved about 20 minutes into the game and pushed them back into their original place. However, he was unsure who had moved them and did not take any action against Christensen.

The Danish goalkeeper later admitted that he had done the same thing before several previous games, when the same type of goal was used.

Two-time UEFA Cup champion IFK Goteborg leads the standings with 47 points on better goal difference than AIK. Kalmar is fourth with 42 points.

Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek could play his first international in more than three years after being called up Friday by Poland for its final World Cup qualifiers against the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The 36-year-old Dudek, Real Madrids second-choice goalkeeper, was included in the squad to play the Czechs on Oct. 10 in Prague and at home in Chorzow against Slovakia four days later. He last played for Poland in September 2006.

Interim Poland coach Stefan Majewski surprisingly left out captain Michal Zewlakow, goalkeeper Artur Boruc, midfielder Jacek Krzynowek and defender Dariusz Dudka.

I believe I have made the right choice and we will see the effects soon, Majewski told a news conference.

Majewski took over last week from Leo Beenhakker, who was fired earlier this month after Poland lost to Slovenia.

Poland is next to last in Group 3 with 11 points, three back from a playoff spot, and with little chance of reaching the World Cup.

—

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Jerzy Dudek (Real Madrid), Wojciech Kowalewski (Salonika), Sebastian Przyrowski (Polonia Warsaw).

Defenders: Jaroslaw Bieniuk (Widzew Lodz), Seweryn Gancarczyk (Lech Poznan), Arkadiusz Glowacki (Wisla Krakow), Tomasz Jodlowiec (Polonia Warsaw), Adam Kokoszka (Empoli), Mariusz Pawelec (Slask Wroclaw), Piotr Polczak (Cracovia Krakow), Jakub Rzezniczak (Legia Warszawa).

Midfielders: Jakub Blaszczykowski (Borussia Dortmund), Roger Guerreiro (AEK Athens), Maciej Iwanski (Legia Warsaw), Mariusz Lewandowski (Shakhtar Donetsk), Rafal Murawski (Rubin Kazan), Ludovic Obraniak (Lille), Slawomir Peszko (Lech Poznan), Lukasz Piszczek (Hertha Berlin), Euzebiusz Smolarek (no club), Jakub Wilk (Lech Poznan).

Forwards: Pawel Brozek (Wisla Krakow), Kamil Grosicki (Jagiellonia Bilaystok), Dawid Janczyk (KSC Lokeren), Ireneusz Jelen (Auxerre), Robert Lewandowski (Lech Poznan).