Messi's hat trick leads Barca over Valencia

Soccer Betting Lines

03/14/2010 - Barcelona, Spain (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Lionel Messi had second-half hat trick and Barcelona beat Valencia 3-0 on Sunday in a clash of top-three clubs in Spain's La Liga at the Camp Nou.

Messi scored in the 56th, 81st and 83rd minutes to increase his La Liga-high goal total to 22 through just 26 matches.

Gonzalo Higuain scored a hat trick for Real Madrid in a 4-1 win at Valladolid, as it bounced back from its Champions League exit to stay level on points with Barcelona.

Although Real holds the lead through goal differential, Barca actually holds a slight edge because it won the teams' only meeting 1-0.

Barcelona plays the second leg of its Champions League Round of 16 series this Wednesday against Stuttgart at the Camp Nou. Barca settled for a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Germany.

Real Madrid was eliminated from the Champions League on Wednesday by Lyon. The Spanish side lost the first leg 1-0 in France, and could only manage a 1-1 tie in the return leg at the Bernabeu.

Real took out its frustrations Valladolid, with Cristiano Ronaldo opening the scoring before Higuian scored his hat trick to increase his goal total to 19 - second in La Liga behind Messi.

Madrid won its eighth straight in La Liga, and still hosts Barcelona with just 12 matches left in the season and no European matches to worry about.

"I am very happy with the way we played. Every match is like a final and today we needed to win to stay positive," Real coach Manuel Pellegrini said on the club's website. "We need to compete for the title. The players know what is at stake and don't want everything done so to date to be in vain.

"The team proved it's on the right track."

Joseba Llorente and Damian Escudero scored to lead Villarreal to a 2-0 victory over Xerez, Fernando Soriano scored to lead Almeria over Malaga 1-0, Tenerife beat Espanyol 4-1 to make a move toward climbing out of the drop zone and Real Zaragoza tied Racing 0-0.

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LINCOLN, Neb. -- Nebraska running back Marlon Lucky was hospitalized Monday for undisclosed reasons after Lincoln police responded to a call at his residence.

The Nebraska athletic department said in a release Monday that Lucky was admitted Sunday night.

MySportsbook.com has the Cornhuskers listed at +2500 to win the BCS National Championship odds.

A nursing supervisor at the hospital said all questions about Lucky were being referred to the athletic department. The athletic department said there would be no further comment from the department or Lucky's family.

A Lincoln Police spokesman said officers responded to a call at Lucky's residence 11:30 p.m. Sunday. The spokesman said he didn't know Lucky's condition at the time he was taken to the hospital.

Lucky, from North Hollywood, Calif., started six games last season as a sophomore and was the team's second-leading rusher, with 728 yards and six touchdowns. He also caught 32 passes for 383 yards. He averaged 19.1 yards on eight kickoff returns.

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