Mourinho's Madrid held by Mallorca, Barca cruises

Soccer Betting Lines

08/29/2010 - Madrid, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jose Mourinho made his debut as Spanish La Liga power Real Madrid's boss in unspectacular fashion with a 0-0 draw at Mallorca on Sunday.

Madrid was no doubt the better side for much of the day, but were unable to beat goalkeeper Dudu Aouate, who made five saves in the game.

Gonzalo Higuain, Real Madrid's leading goal scorer last season, almost gave the visitors a 1-0 advantage inside 10 minutes when he teamed up with Cristiano Ronaldo. Ronaldo drove toward goal before slotted a pass to Higuain in the area, but Aouate came out to smother the chance.

A pair Ronaldo blasts inside 16 minutes resulted in nothing as the game remained scoreless.

Mallorca's best chance came about five minutes before the break when Jonathan De Guzman laid a pass to Gonzalo Castro at the top of the Real penalty area. Castro then turned and fired a left-footed shot just wide of the far post.

The best chance of the game came in the closing minutes when Aouate made a leg save on Higuain after the Argentina had been sent through by Ronaldo.

Madrid's rival Barcelona was more successful in its season opener, topping Racing Santander, 3-0, earlier in the day.

David Villa scored in his La Liga debut for Barcelona, with Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta also finding the back of the net in the win.

In other La Liga action on Sunday, it was: Deportivo 0, Real Zaragoza 0; Espanyol 3, Getafe 1; Real Sociedad 1, Villarreal 0; Osasuna 0, Almeria 0.

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American Idol odds : Blake Lewis the Early Standout

An important American Idol betting lines recap from February 20 Guys episode. The 12 men came out flat overall with Blake Lewis appearing to have the early edge after the first hour and a half.

Rudy - was quite good singing "Free Ride" to start off.  Randy was not impressed though.  Paula thought he started off fantastic.  "Never had anyone stop off so lively" said Paula but Simon (who does not like Rudy) does not feel he has a distinct voice and was not impressed either. 

Brandon was a little pitchy according to Randy and Paula agreed.  Simon said he was a good singer but the song was "too safe" and he needs to make an impact.  He was listed at +1200 odds or $1200 paid out on a $100 bet should he win the competition. 

Big favorite Sundance came in with a flat version of "Knights in White Satin" and the judges let him have it, including Paula.  Randy claimed the song was out of pitch throughout.

Korean American - and a Jenny Woo favorite - Paul Kim was up next.  Another pitchy flat one but Randy said he still liked his potential.  Kim at +3000 odds was said to have sung a "third rate version of that (George Michael) song" according to Simon Cowell.  He sang "Careless Whisper".

22 year old Chris Richardson was up next.  He was listed with +1100 odds coming in.  He got the best response from the judges though Simon did not believe the vocal was that great. 

Nick was boring and pitchy.  Simon didn't think he was that bad though and predicted he would be back next week.  Nick Pedro was a big +3000 dog coming into this competition. 

Beat boxer Blake Lewis was listed with early +1000 odds or $1000 payout on a $100 bet if he were to become the next American Idol winner odds .  These of course were the early odds.  He was considered original for picking an "odd song".  He did not beat box and the judges felt it was the best vocal of the night. 

Sanjaya came in as the second biggest favorite after Chris Sligh but his performance Tuesday night was not very good. 

Chris Sleigh was the early favorite at +450 odds.  Great voice and a great sense of humor.  He's a real standout.  Randy felt it was on point but maybe ahead of the chorus a little bit.  Simon Cowell said he felt like he was in some "sort of weird student gig". 

Jared Cotter followed.  He was listed with +2000 odds early on to win the competition.  The judges felt he needs to take more risks but looked good. 

22-year old AJ Talbado, who has tried out for American Idol five times, was up next.  "Kind of a theme park performance" said Simon.  Though the judges felt he performed okay.  Simon did feel AJ might be better than he originally thought.

Phil - this season's military favorite - came into this competition with +1200 odds to win the competition.  He was the last to perform.  He was certainly strong enough to get through this stage of the competition and perhaps the best one after a shaky start. 

Tomorrow night, the ladies perform and I sure hope they do a better job than the boys.  Check out all the American Idol betting odds here.

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