Bayern have a slight advantage thanks to Mario Gomez’s delayed strike in the first leg and arrive heightened after Franck Ribery grabbed a stoppage-time winner at Werder Bremen on Saturday. They have won three out of four semi-finals against Real.

In Champions League history, Gomez is the most efficient marksman. On an average, the German international has scored a goal every 92 minutes. This is a tremendous feat that no player with at least 15 goals to his name can match. In nine Champions League appearances this term, he has scored 12 goals, but only one of his goals has come away from the Allianz Arena.

The visitors from Spain registered a deserved away goal through Germany midfielder Mezut Oezil eight minutes into the second half and they had more than their fair share of chances. In the Spanish capital, it looked like the teams would be locked at 1-1 going into the return fixture, until Mario Gomez struck an injury-time winner for Bayern.

Real’s away goal renders Bayern’s position precarious at best, although the German outfit carries a slender advantage with them to Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Domestic considerations could also have an impact on the outcome of Wednesday’s clash.

This season, Real Madrid has had the most shots (excl. blocked) in the Champions League, trying their luck on 175 occasions. The Merengues share the best attack of this competition with Barcelona (33 goals scored). In this season’s Champions League, Real Madrid has won the most games, i.e. nine out of 11 played.

At Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Bayern Munich have lost their last four Champions league fixtures, which includes the 2010 final against Jose Mourinho’s Inter Milan (0-2). More than any other team in the history of the competition, Bayern has already won four Champions League knockout ties on away goals. FCB won their first-leg 2-1 at home and lost the second leg 3-2 on the last two occasions Bayern achieved that feat.

Mourinho is confident that against Bayern, his players will handle the occasion just as they did at the weekend. He said that he is not sure if the Champions League is more important than the league, because the best team always wins the league and this is not always the case in Europe. He added that the final of the Champions League is the most important thing in football and tomorrow is almost like a long-awaited final. He sees calmness in the players and will not like an excess of emotion, nor a lack of it.

In the hyper-competitive Pacific Division on Friday in Edmonton, Los Angeles will try to maintain, if not improve upon their standing. With the Coyotes hosting the Sharks at night, the winner was set to pass them in the standings, although, the Kings began Thursday second in the Pacific and seventh overall. The Oilers are already eliminated from the postseason but one that is 5-1-2 over its last eight. Los Angeles finally found its offensive touch and surged in the standings in early March.

The Kings remain right in the hunt though they have cooled of late. The Kings have struggled to a 1-2-1 mark with just six goals over their last four games. The Kings rebounded on Wednesday with a 3-0 win over the Flames following a 1-0 loss to Vancouver on Monday. Goalie Jonathan Quick roared back with a 19-save gem against a Calgary team desperate for points after suffering yet another 1-0 loss to the Canucks. The guys in front of Quick held the Flames to just four shots for the entire third period and much of that credit goes to them.

It is actually Edmonton, which has nothing to play for this season, despite all of the teams jockeying for the final playoff spots. This has shown the greatest sense of urgency down the stretch. Edmonton had taken points from four straight games, heading into Wednesday’s game at home against Dallas. However, against the Stars, they Oilers could never find their groove. The Stars conceded a goal in each period. The Oilers, and goalie Devan Dubnyk, wound up losing, 3-1.

Anze Kopitar has sputtered of late. His offensive outburst in early March spurred the Kings. On Wednesday, he snapped a three-game pointless streak with 2 assists, and he, over 20 career games against the Oilers has 6 goals and 12 assist.

Quick shows no signs of slowing down in Rexall Place, judging by his career marks against the Oilers. Against average and .932 save percentage, the Kings goalie is 5-1-0 with a 1.84 goals. He will face a stiff test in Edmonton’s power play.

The Los Angeles Kings’ betting odds are (13/18) and for Edmonton Oilers (6/5), as per various sportsbook.

In the first set, the Russian seventh seed came back from 4-1 down and survived five set points in the second. She claimed a 7-6 7-5 victory on Court Philippe Chatrier. For a place in the semifinals, she will play 15th seed Andrea Petkovic after the German saw off Sharapova’s compatriot Maria Kirilenko 6-2 2-6 6-4.

Sharapova is bidding to complete a full set of grand slam titles and in the French Open; she has made it to the last eight the hard way. In her glittering career, she has won Wimbledon, the U.S. and Australian Open crowns.

Petkovic’s 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 victory equaled her best Grand Slam performance. In Melbourne, she made a run until the last eight. The 23-year-old world number 12 said she was simply thrilled to be moving in such exalted circles, although a win over Sharapova would take her into the last four at a major for the very first time.

In the last 16 at this year’s Australian Open, Petkovic stunned Sharapova in straight sets although at the in the semifinals of the Miami Masters, Sharapova gained her revenge. Against Petkovic, Sharapova has a 3-1 win-loss record.

This is Sharapova’s best chance of becoming the 10th woman to complete a career Grand Slam, as the top three seeds are already eliminated at Roland Garros.

On June 1, 2011, Sharapova will face Petkovic. The Internet Sportsbook has received a ton of action from betting enthusiast all over the world and it has Sharapova as the favorite to win. The best odds for Sharapova (8/15) and Petkovic (25/14).

While the reds are at 35-1, the Cardinals are at 25-1 to win the World Series.

In the standings Cincinnati are just 1.5 games behind the Cardinals and they are 18-16 on the season. Even though they still have not been able to find a dominant home field advantage yet this season, they have been solid at home. At home they are 10-9 through their first 19 games. The Cardinals will give the Reds all they can handle this weekend as they are a great team on the road at 10-6.

Behind the amazing run production of Lance Berkman and Matt Holliday, the Cardinals have succeeded. This year these hitters are among the best hitters in the league. In spite of having a slow start from the best hitter in the league, Albert Pujols, the team has miraculously managed to score more runs than any team in the Major Leagues.

In this series the Cardinals will send Carpenter, Lohse and McClellan to the mound. The Cardinals’ pitching staff has been better than anyone expected it to be. They have managed to allow fewer runs than any other team in their division to this point in the season in spite of losing Wainwright, one of their ace pitchers.

If the Reds put up a decent performance in this series, they can pass the Cardinals. Second only to the Cardinals, they have the 2nd best offense in the Major Leagues. If both teams are able to get things rolling on the offensive side of the game, this could be an exciting, high scoring series.

In various golf betting lines both Ko and Perry never started as favorites to lift the title.

On Sunday, the North Harbour youngster turned 14 and at the Russley Golf Club with outstanding golf in the final 18 holes, overcame two-time champion and good friend Cecilia Cho 4 and 3. With both Ko (14) and Cho (16) chasing history, the women’s match attracted the largest gallery in cool conditions at Christchurch. Early in the second round, the North Shore golfer took the upper hand.

Cho (Pakuranga) made Ko to fight for the triumph. The former showed early in the match that she was not prepared to give up the trophy. In the end, Ko made a critical break on the first hole of the afternoon round to go one up and then had a three hole by the 26th, even though Cho had won it the earlier two years.

For a player of Ko’s age, it has been a quite an astonishing month. At the Huntingdale golf Club in Victoria, she won the Australian Strokeplay Championship in March and then just last Saturday won by a colossal nine shots over Cho in the Lion Foundation New Zealand Strokeplay Championship. To be successful both Strokeplay Championships in the same year, she became the first player to do so.

As Agadir was overwhelmed by strong winds, a host of players fell short to replicate their opening round performances, predominantly in the morning. Davies was rewarded for his disciplined advances as he only dropped one shot on his way to a 70 and devoid of a top-20 finish to date this season. He played very consistently.

Alongside Joost Luiten, Davies heads up the field. In spite of two double bogeys as well as a dropped shot at the ninth, Luiten somehow managed to card a 69. He was justifiably amused with the turnaround, as seven birdies, which included four in a row on the back nine, saved his round.

At the most recent European Tour event in Morocco, Battling New Zealand golfer Michael Campbell is five shots off the lead after his first round. At one stage, Campbell led the field on five under before dropping late shots to card a three under par 69 at the Hassan II Trophy in Agadir.

Darren Clarke joined Lawrie on three under (after seven holes) after picking up a birdie at the fifth when playing the Golf du Palais Royal course. He was one of the late starters.

After a level par 72 (Palais Royal) left the Belfast pro level for the tournament, Michael Hoey should be safely into the weekend with the projected cut at one over.

As per the various online golf sports betting the best bets for the Trophee Hassan II in Morocco are – Rhys Davies 7, Joost Luiten 8, Darren Clarke 57/5, Michael Hoey 23/10 and Peter Lawrie 5/4.

According to the Las Vegas Hilton, with good reason, Notre Dame is a 13 point favorite in college basketball betting. Their shooting percentage of 46 percent ranks them with some of the best teams in their bracket as they are strong on the boards. Even though the team as a whole has played well as a unit, Ben Hansbrough and Tim Abromaitis have led this team all season.

By hitting at a 39 percent clip led by Hansbrough, 44 percent and Abromaitis who is hitting 42 percent of his shots from downtown, Notre Dame is lights out from three point range. Notre Dame Team’s free throw shooting is another key for them. Hansbrough is hitting 81 percent whereas they are hitting 72 percent from the charity stripe.

In spite of being a 13 point dog, the Akron Zips are no pushover.  They are above 70 percent at the free throw line as they are hitting 36 percent from the three point line. Many ignore a key stat when making their picks is a team that hits their free throws down the stretch.

As a 25-1 shot to win the NCAA Tournament in College Basketball Odds, Notre Dame is listed by the Las Vegas Hilton Superbook. This year, it is entirely possible they will make a run to the NCAA Finals. a great shooting guard and a solid down low man is the key to winning the tournament. With Hansbrough and Abromaitis, Notre Dame has them both.

In March Madness Brackets pick the Notre Dame is favorites to win the championship.

Manchester United is a -275 moneyline favorite and Bolton is a +800 underdog, in soccer betting odds.

Including a 3-1 loss to Liverpool, Manchester United has lost two of their last three games. By allowing 28 goals in 27 starts, Goalie Edwin van der Saar has been solid all year. He is the key to making Manchester United a success, in spite of some recent struggles. Dimitar Berbatov is the leading scorer, offensively. On the season he has 19 goals. On offense, Nani and Javier Hernandez are also key players.

For Bolton, Jussi Jaaskelainen is the goalie and he has had an up and down season. Even though Jaaskelainen has also let in a few loose shots, he has shown signs that he is a strong goaltender. Compare to Manchester, Bolton offense is not potent. Even though Bolton doesn’t score easily, Johan Elmander leads the team with 9 goals. Bolton was shut out three straight times, during one stretch this season.

Earlier this season, Bolton forced a draw with Manchester and they are fully capable of hanging with this team. Bolton knows they can score as well as the score of that game was 2-2.  if they want to have a chance at beating Manchester, They will need that confidence. Manchester can’t overlook Bolton for their part. Every win counts as they are in the middle of a key stretch.

In college basketball lines betting odds, Georgetown is at 30-1 where as Syracuse is at 35-1 to emerge from March Madness as the NCAAB champion.

Even though the Orange really started to fall apart about a month ago, they started out the season on fire. 6 of their last 11 games, they have lost.

Even though Syracuse is the type of team that people expect to come out on top in those games, the truth is that they have played a number of ranked teams.  Against teams ranked in the top 25, the Orange is 4-4 this season.

With an 8 point victory the Hoyas played against Syracuse recently and came out on top. Before falling to UCONN by 8 points on the 16th of February, they were in the middle of a long winning streak.  Against teams ranked in the top 25, they are now 5-3 on the season.

Rebounding basketball is the biggest issue for Hoyas. In rebounds per game they are just the 222nd best team in the nation.  As the Orange is a much better team on the glass, they will really need to attack the boards in this game.

In terms of field goal percentage the Hoyas are the 2nd best team in the nation.  In this game the Orange need to try to force the Hoyas to take difficult shots to take them out of their rhythm.

As the world’s top female golfer, overtaking Shin Ji-yai of South Korea so quickly surprised the Taiwanese star. She doesn’t expect too much pressure on her because of her new status. During her swing through Australia, she did not have to face Shin or most of the game’s other top players, but in Pattaya, her No. 1 ranking is on the line. In Pattaya, the world No. 2 South Korean and other top-flight competitors will be in action.

Tseng is also the defending LPGA Player of the Year. On the LPGA, Tseng won three times in 2010, but two of those were in majors (Kraft Nabisco Championship and Women’s British Open). She always had great power but inconsistent letting her down. In terms of LPGA dominance, Tseng could well become the successor to Annika Sorenstam and Lorena Ochoa, if that bears out over the course of the season.

Tseng was very happy to return to Thailand for an LPGA tournament. The 22-year-old said that every time she visits Thailand, she make a pilgrimage to the Four-Faced Buddha to pray for his blessings.

The betting odds provided by Ladbrokes.com bookmakers is; 6/1 Jiyai Shin, 10/1 Na Yeon Choi, 10/1 Suzann Petterson, 12/1 Cristie Kerr, 12/1 Kyung Kim, 14/1 Paula Creamer, 16/1 Ai Miyazato, 16/1 Yani Tseng, 20/1 Song Hee Kim, 33/1 Stacy Lewis, 33/1 Mika Miyazato, 40/1 Angela Stanford, 40/1 Morgan Pressel, 40/1 Katherine Hull, 40/1 Juli Inkster and 40/1 Se Ri Pa.