Bayern wants to put pressure on Hoffenheim

Soccer Betting Lines

12/12/2008 - Stuttgart, Germany (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Bayern Munich visits Stuttgart in a clash of the last two Bundesliga champions Saturday, trying to extend its undefeated streak to 16 matches and put pressure on current leader Hoffenheim.

Bayern edged Hoffenheim, 2-1, last weekend to pull level in points with the new Bundesliga side but trails on goal differential entering the final week of the first half of the season.

"We'll go to Stuttgart in a confident mood," Bayern boss Jurgen Klinsmann said, "and as before, our aim is to win the [first-half] championship."

Hoffenheim hosts Schalke on Sunday, when it will already know what it needs to do to hold onto the top spot for the winter break.

Bayern added to its huge win last weekend with a 3-2 win over Lyon on Wednesday to finish atop its Champions League group.

Luca Toni was the hero for Bayern last weekend, scoring in the 92nd minute of a thrilling win over the newly-promoted leaders. Miroslav Klose, who leads Bayern with 11 goals in all competitions, led the team against Lyon with a pair goals.

With Franck Ribery pairing with those two strikers, Bayern's offense has been a force during the unbeaten streak. Ribery will sit out this weekend's match with a shoulder injury picked up against Lyon.

The Munich club will have a hard time replacing Ribery, who is currently one of the top players in the world, but will be healthier than in mid week. Defender Lucio and midfielder Ze Roberto are back after missing the Lyon match.

Midfielder Hamit Altintop, who missed months with an ankle injury, returned for a brief appearance on Wednesday and could play longer against Stuttgart.

Although Stuttgart is 10 points back in ninth, new coach Markus Babbel has won two straight league matches since replacing Armin Veh.

Babbel has injury concerns with Mario Gomez questionable and Ludovic Magnin out with a muscle tear, but could get a boost with Yildiray Basturk expected to be back from a long injury absence.

The new Stuttgart coach knows he's got his hands full regardless.

"If you allow [Bayern] the space to play football, they will leave you with no chance," Babbel said.

Hoffenheim hopes Stuttgart gives it an easier chance to hold onto the top spot when it hosts Schalke. If Bayern wins, Hoffe will have to win to stay in first.

Despite the loss to Bayern last weekend, Hoffenheim has still won eight of its last 10. Vedad Ibisevic scored the first goal in the loss to Bayern, upping his lead in the league to 18 goals through 16 matches.

On Friday, Mohamed Zidan and Nuri Sahin scored and Borussia Dortmund beat last- place Monchengladbach 2-1.

Also Saturday, third-place Bayer Leverkusen will try to close in on the leaders when it hosts Energie, fourth-place Hertha Berlin hosts Karlsruhe, Bochum hosts Koln, Hamburg hosts Eintracht, Werder Bremen hosts Wolfsburg and Hannover hosts Arminia Bielefeld.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

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