In the final, Falcao opened the scoring in seven minutes and then added a second in the 34th before Diego completed Atletico’s win in the 85th. The Colombia striker now has 29 goals in 29 games over two seasons in the Europa League and he topped the competition’s scoring chart for the second straight year. Last year, Falcao was signed from Porto for 40 million Euros after he helped them win the Europa League, and has quickly found his feet at the Calderon.

Atletico’s earnings are only around a quarter of Spain’s big two, and their lack of financial influence may force them to cash in on their prize asset, even though Only Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo have scored more than the Colombia striker has.

On Sunday, the Rojiblancos need to defeat Villarreal at El Madrigal and Malaga drop points at home to Sporting Gijon if they are to finish fourth in La Liga. If this happens then they can clinch a place in the qualifying round of the club game’s most lucrative cup competition.

Atletico CEO Gil Marin has now heaped pressure on Diego Simeone’s men by claiming that the club’s future prosperity hinges on it, even though such an outcome appears unlikely. Gil Marin pointed out that Atletico have survived losing star players in the past, though retaining the Colombia international is of secondary importance. He pointed out that after Torres left they kept winning and after Sergio Aguero left, they still kept winning. He added that the club is bigger than any player is.

Meanwhile, Gil Marin confessed that during the second half of the Europa League final win over Athletic Bilbao, he had become so nervous that he had to leave his seat in the stands. He explained that he left because he was feeling poorly. He added that he walked around the stadium and when he heard the roar of the crowd, he thought that Athletic had scored. After learning that it was 3-0, he was able to breathe again.

Malaga’s meeting with Sporting and Atletico’s crunch clash with Villarreal both kick off at 20.00CET.

On Friday, Juan Monaco and John Isner will be in action in Houston. They are set for respective quarterfinal meetings with Kevin Anderson and Ryan Sweeting. Fifth seed Kevin Anderson of South Africa reached the quarter-finals by beating American Sam Querrey 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 7-6 (7/2). Anderson next faces fourth-seeded Juan Monaco of Argentina, who defeated Japan’s Tatsuma Ito 6-3, 6-3. Anderson has worked hard to get to this point. The 6’7” South African just barely missed a first-round bye. He defeated Joao Souza in straight sets then survived Sam Querrey 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-6(2) on Thursday. He is now 12-6 for the season.

Qualifier Michael Russell booked a quarterfinal berth at the ATP Tour US Men’s Clay Court Championship by stunning top seed Mardy Fish 6-3, 6-1. He thrilled his hometown fans with that win. It was Russell’s first victory over a top-10 opponent in 13 attempts. It is his first tour-level quarterfinal of 2012. He will face 19-year-old fellow American Ryan Harrison.

Second-seeded John Isner rallied to beat Horacio Zeballos of Argentina 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-2. He is playing his opening match after a first-round bye. Isner led America to a Davis Cup triumph in France last weekend at Monte Carlo, just before arriving in Houston. In the quarterfinals of the nations tournament, he won both of his singles matches in the United States’ 3-2 victory. Isner is seeking a first career clay court title and he will face defending champion Sweeting.

Isner and Sweeting will be meeting for the second time this season. This will also be their second meeting for the second time in their careers. Two months ago in Delray Beach, they had initially met. Isner won a second-round encounter 6-3, 6-4. Both Americans are in fine form this year. The world No. 143 will make this tough, but look for Isner to advance in two competitive sets. Various sportsbook odds have Isner as the favorite to clinch the ATP Tour US Men’s Clay Court Championship.

Aaron Rodgers is clicking on all cylinders and his ability to spread the ball around the field is making it tough on defenders looking to isolate players like Greg Jennings. Rodgers is tough enough to defend before he stepped it up a notch, now he is impossible to defend against for most defenses.

The Green Bay Packers defense has also stepped it up. They are still struggling against the pass but they have picked up their run defense. Green Bay’s corners have been getting smoked this season. They are giving up almost 300 yards per game through the air.

How can the Buccaneers compete with the Packers? Josh Freeman must work the edges of the field and open up the running game. If Freeman can work the outside of the field with his wide outs it will open up the game for his running back LaGarette Blount.

The Bucs have dropped three games in row heading into this contest.

Freeman can also utilize his tight end, Kellen Winslow. Winslow is a key in this game if he can come into the game with the right attitude. Winslow’s abilities are top shelf but his head is a bit scrambled.

The game should surprise most fans. Many believe Green Bay will blow through Tampa Bay but this is potentially a great matchup and has many football betting fans very excited.

Carlos Zambrano (4-1 4.38) has been pitching well this season and has gone 2-1 in recent starts. Additionally, Zambrano won his last start against the Dodgers 5-1 on Wednesday, May 4. Zambrano has been eating up innings on the mound recently, averaging 7.0 innings per game in those starts.

If Zambrano isn’t able to go the distance, the Cubs’ bullpen should be rested and ready to shoulder the load. Chicago’s relievers have pitched only 8.1 innings in the last three games.

The Cubs have been strong against left-handed pitching lately, going 6-3. That bodes well for Chicago, as it will be facing southpaw Ted Lilly (3-3 4.67). The righty Zambrano could be a problem for Los Angeles as the Dodgers’ hitters have left something to be desired against right-handed pitching going 11-17 on the season.

A bet for the Cubs isn’t signed, sealed and delivered. The recent point differentials for Chicago and Los Angeles suggest that the Cubs might be a little over matched in this game. While both teams have played poorly lately, Chicago has been outscored by 0.94 runs per game compared to 0.76 for the Dodgers. The Cubs have struggled as an underdog. When the money is against them, they have won just 40.0% of their recent games.

For those interested in wagering on point totals, this game might not be the best candidate. The over/under is set at 7.5, nearly identical to the 7.58 combined run average of both squads, making this game too close to call.

At this tricky 1.366-mile track, Busch overcame an early-race encounter with the wall and survived a multi-car crash just after the halfway point to win his first nationwide event.

Battling fellow Sprint Cup Series was regular Kasey Kahne for the lead on lap 17, while Busch scraped the wall but suffered no considerable harm to his car. Just after a restart on lap 95, Busch narrowly escaped from being caught up in an eight-car accident. With 24 laps remaining, he passed Nationwide regular Elliott Sadler for the lead and then easily beat his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Denny Hamlin, at the finish by 3.7 seconds.

By virtue of being fastest in Friday morning’s only nationwide practice session, Busch started from the pole. Rain had washed out qualifying round including the final 24, he led the first lap, and then led three other times for 48 more laps. He easily beat Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin, then Elliott Sadler, points leader Justin Allgaier, Steve Wallace, Clint Bowyer, Kasey Kahne (pole-winner for Saturday night’s 501-mile Cup race), Reed Sorenson, Jason Leffler and Ricky Stenhouse Jr..

The win probably astonished those who watched Busch slap the wall a time or two and almost wreck a handful of other times. Denny Hamlin came in second. Sadler finished third, series points leader Justin Allgaier was fourth and Steve Wallace finished fifth. After 10 races, Allgaier leads Sadler by five points.

In soccer betting lines, for this matchup soccer odds are not yet available.

The Galaxy, a number two ranking in the Western Conference, head into this game with a 3-1-3 record. So far no other team besides Real Salt Lake has matched Galaxy’s 12 points. With a 2-2-1 record and 7 points which place them at the fourth spot in the conference, the Timbers will arrive in Los Angeles.

As losses are not part of the conversation, April has been a solid month for both teams. In the offensive aspects there is a major difference though. While the Timbers have found the back of the goal’s net eight times in three games, the Galaxy have scored only four goals in four games this month. While Galaxy plays a reserved and slow paced game, these numbers clearly indicate that Portland is an explosive team.

Because of the recent victory against Chicago Fire, Los Angeles head into Saturday’s game with confidence. The Galaxy managed to walk away from Toyota Park with a 2-1 win playing without star players David Beckham (suspended) and Landon Donovan (injured). Over the Chicago Fire last week the Timbers had an even more impressive 4-2 victory though.

From Jewsbury, Wallace, Cooper, Wallace and Perlaza, Portland has a diverse arsenal of offensive power. Each player has taken plenty of chances at the opponent’s goals as they each have scored two goals this season. In online free picks, the betting odds for this matchup have not yet published.

With four runs on four hits and three walks in five innings, the Yankees plummeted Minnesota starter Francisco Liriano to 0-2 on the year. After Liriano left the game, New York managed just one hit.

New York was down 2-1 in the fourth when Russell Martin got an RBI on a groundout and Andruw Jones doubled in a run. With a single to right, Gardner followed and made the score 4-2.

By giving up five hits and two runs in six innings, Yankees starter A.J. Burnett (2-0) earned the win. Mariano Rivera, for his fourth save of the year, pitched the ninth but the most upbeat member of the Yankees bullpen was Rafael Soriano.

In a scoreless eighth inning, the high-priced setup man threw just 10 pitches, just 2 days after walking three Twins and blowing a four-run lead. Nick Swisher slid hard into second base on a Mark Teixeira grounder to shortstop, during the seventh inning of Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Twins. Nishioka had to be carried off the field. He was playing second base after being a shortstop in Japan. Swisher was out on the fielder’s choice.

The Twins have their home opener against the Oakland Athletics (2-4), while the Yankees hit the road against the Boston Red Sox (0-6) Friday. At the start of the season, the sports betting odds for Boston was at 3/1 but presently they are at 9/2 and Yankees are at 5/1.

At +180 in MLB lines Futures Odds, Philadelphia is among the top favorites to win the 2011 World Series.

A pitching staff that is unrivaled by any team in the league what the Phillies certainly do have. It is probably an overstatement to say that the Phillies have 4 aces while they probably have the best set of starters in the league. In all of Major League Baseball between Halliday, Oswalt and Cliff Lee the Phillies have three of the most feared pitchers. Cole Hamels is the 4th pitcher in the discussion. He is probably not a top of the rotation starter at this point in his career while he is a great pitcher.

The Phillies will have the opportunity of sending an ace to the mound up to 3 times in a series with this pitching staff. What is extremely encouraging for Philadelphia is the thought that on the off days they will have pitchers of the caliber of Hamels.

Philadelphia also have one of the best hitters in all of Major League Baseball as well as they have one of the best pitching staffs.

Ryan Howard bat in runs with people on base over the course of his career as he has proven the ability to hit homeruns. He could be the key to this team as he is an annual candidate for MVP. In order to support this excellent pitching staff, the Phillies need him to come up with regular production. In online free picks, the Philadelphia Phillies are favorites to win World Series.

In NHL betting lines Odds Philadelphia is a top favorite to win the Stanley Cup at 6-1.

Even though the Stars have actually been outscored by their opponents this season by a margin of two goals, they have achieved a good record this season. Though the Stars seem to find a way to win close games on a regular basis, they are pretty much a middle of the pack team on offense and defense. As the Flyers are a tough team and will definitely hang tough throughout the game, this may help them in this game.

The Flyers will want to try to put the puck in the net as frequently as possible in this game as they have a high scoring offense. The Stars may not be able to keep up if this is a high scoring game as they do not have the same sort of offensive production.

In this game the Stars will be the home team, where they have been at their best this season. While playing at home this year, they are 18-9-5. The Flyers should hang tough in Dallas as they have been an excellent road team this year. While playing on the road this year, they are 20-9-3.

As both of these teams are legitimate playoff contenders, this game could be a playoff preview.

Outside of the Welterweight Champion, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Fitch has completely squashed the UFC, while for his opponent, former multi-weight champion BJ Penn; it has not always been as smooth sailing.

At just 17-years old, the Hawaiian native began training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Just weeks after being awarded his black belt by Andre Pederneiras, he became the first non-Brazilian in history to be in the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in the black belt category in 2000.

At Welterweight, Penn has had an up and down career. His record is only 3-3. One of those win is Duane Ludwig, who is a Lightweight himself and the two other wins are over Matt Hughes. He was submitted by Matt Hughes and has been dominated by GSP twice.

Penn revamped his training camp and moved back to welterweight, following two consecutive losses to Frankie Edgar at lightweight. In the welterweight, he knocked out Matt Hughes in 21 seconds. Similarly, since losing to St. Pierre back in 2008, Fitch has been on a path to reinvention and he feels everything has finally come together for this fight with Penn. He seems to be supremely motivated. In fact, for this fight, both men have displayed supreme motivation.

For Fitch the most likely path to victory is to use his conditioning and size. To catch Fitch and disrupt his momentum, Penn’s is to use his speed, craftiness and heavy hands. Fitch is the favorite for this bout. The betting odds for the fighters are Jon Fitch (-210) vs. B.J. Penn (+170).