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BARCELONA, Spain -- With Cristiano Ronaldo missing his scoring touch, Real Madrid needed defender Pepe to score in the second half to secure a 1-0 victory at Espanyol on Sunday to pull within three points of the Spanish league co-leaders. Pepe was left unmarked to head in Luka Modrics corner kick in the 55th minute, as Cristiano Ronaldo failed to add to his league-leading 20 goals. Ronaldo is favoured to win the FIFAs Ballon dOr on Monday over Lionel Messi and Franck Ribery. The Portugal forward uncharacteristically wasted two clear scoring chances, while goalkeeper Kiko Casilla denied him on another three occasions. "The win is important because winning on the road is key to winning the league," said Pepe, who defended Ronaldo despite his off day. "I would vote for Cristiano because what he did last year is very important and he deserves it." Third-place Madrid took full advantage of Saturdays scoreless draw between Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, which left them level at the top of the table at the leagues halfway mark. "The important thing today was to cut into Barcelona and Atleticos lead," said Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti. "We have to feel satisfied." Also on Sunday, Real Betis remained in last place after slumping to an error-plagued 2-1 loss at home to Osasuna. Rayo Vallecano won 1-0 at Getafes foggy Alfonso Perez Coliseum to end a five-game streak without a win in league play, and Levante edged Malaga 1-0 at home thanks to David Barrals 19th-minute header. Led by striker Jhon Cordoba, Espanyol surged forward at the start and almost took the lead when Christian Stuani steered his point-blank header past the wrong side of the post four minutes in. Madrid weathered Espanyols initial push and turned to Karim Benzema and Ronaldo to provide the attacking threat. Ronaldo scuffed Benzemas pass in the 18th before drawing two awkward saves from Casilla with a powerful strike in the 31st and a dipping free kick in the 37th. Espanyol, which was without suspended forward Sergio Garcia and coach Javier Aguirre, was fortunate to make it to halftime not trailing after Angel Di Maria squandered Madrids four-on-two counterattack seconds before Benzema headed wide in the 42nd. But Pepe made good on Madrids dominance by thumping Modrics pass under Casilla, who got a hand on the ball but not enough to keep it out of his net. Ronaldo had two more great looks to increase his impressive tally this season, but Casilla bettered him one-on-one in the 82nd before saving Benzemas shot in the 89th and watching Ronaldo fire the rebound wide with the goalmouth beckoning. Nothing went Betis way against Osasuna, a direct relegation rival, in a game both sides finished with 10 men. Betis conceded Roberto Torres header within two minutes, had Jose "Nono" Delgado dismissed with his second yellow card in the 38th, and saw Jordi Figueras score an own goal in the 57th. And when Osasuna goalkeeper Andres Fernandez gave them a sliver of hope in the 62nd when he was red carded for fouling Ruben Castro in the area, Castro deflated the crowd at Benito Villamarin Stadium by sending his penalty kick off the crossbar. Jorge Molina pulled one back in the 80th but Osasuna had two opportunities to widen the margin before the final whistle. The demoralizing loss left Betis winless in its last 12 league matches and seven points from safety. "We took a step backward today," said Betis coach Juan Carlos Garrido. "I wont deny it. It was important to win today, and besides, clearly our first half of the season was very poor. There has to be a radical turnaround in every facet for us to remain in the first division." Osasuna stayed unbeaten in four rounds and edged five points clear of the drop. Rayos win at Getafe still left it in the relegation zone. Forward Alberto Bueno scored what proved to be the winner in the 29th after Alejandro Galvez was quick to cross a rebounded shot. Levante climbed past Malaga into the middle of the standings. Adidas Superstar 80s Metal Toe Scarpe Oro Foil Uomo/Donna . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. Yeezy Boost 350 Italia . After Martin Skrtel put the Reds in front from close range at Stamford Bridge after only four minutes, Hazard hit back in the 17th with a superb strike. Etoo gave Jose Mourinhos team a decisive lead from Oscars back pass in the 34th. http://www.adisuperstar.it/adidas-superstar-saldi-...-nere.h tml . Oaklands loss to Seattle clinched the ALs best record for the Red Sox with one day to spare in the regular season. "I think everybody was kind of watching," catcher David Ross said. "Demp (Ryan Dempster) came out before he went to the bullpen and was just yelling that they lost. Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 Italia . 8 Kansas to a 64-63 win over Texas Tech on Tuesday night. The freshman from Vaughan, Ont. Adidas Superstar Bianche e Rosa . Robredo, ranked No. 16, bounced back from an upset loss to Leonardo Mayer in the second round of the Royal Guard Open in Chile last week to down Carreno Busta in 1 hour, 25 minutes. On a day filled mostly with qualifying matches, fifth-seeded Marcel Granollers of Spain also entered the second with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-2 win over Aljaz Bedene of Slovenia, while Guido Pella of Argentina defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 7-6 (6), 6-4 to advance.As college football prepares for the final Bowl Championship Series, featuring a Florida State-Auburn championship game, its easy to see why the coming four-team playoff wont solve all the post-season problems. Heck, we might just miss the BCS. Maybe? It sort of worked out this season. Top-ranked Florida State (13-0) was the only team to get through the regular season unbeaten, and the Seminoles did it in dominating fashion. Auburn (12-1) won the Southeastern Conference, and among the teams with imperfect records the Tigers resume is best. "We all complain about the BCS, but isnt it funny how often they get it right," Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said. The pairings became official Sunday night when the final BCS standings came out. There was no question about 1 and 2. Itll be the Noles and Tigers at the Rose Bowl on Jan. 6 for the national championship. In the other marquee bowls: -- Alabama will play Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. -- Clemson will play Ohio State in the Orange Bowl. -- Michigan State will play Stanford in the Rose Bowl. -- Baylor will play UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. Of course, Big 12 champion Baylor (11-1) and Big Ten champion Michigan State (12-1) might argue with that top two. But over 16 seasons college football fans have built up what can be called BCS acceptance, learning to live with the fact that there is only room for two. Fans of particularly aggrieved teams (2000 Miami, 2004 Auburn, 2008 Texas, just to name a few) still burn over the slights. Generally, though, by the time the championship game kicked off, most everybody was on board. And only eight times before the BCS did No. 1 play No. 2 in a bowl game. "Its been a remarkable seismic change for this sport," executive director Bill Hancock said. "That was unthinkable before the BCS." Now think about this season playing out under next seasons format. In the new world order known as the College Football Playoff, a selection committee will pick four teams to play in national semifinals. The winners play for the championship. So how would a panel that includes Tom Osborne, Archie Manning and Condoleezza Rice sort out this seasons top four? Florida State and Auburn, of course. And ... Baylor and Michigan State? But what about Pac-12 champion Stanford (11-2)? Sure the Cardinal have two losses, but as Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said Saturday at the end of a week in which he and the rest of the SEC practically begged voters to overlook the number in the loss column and focus on quality of opposition: "I have nine words.dddddddddddd Strength of schedule. Strength of schedule. Strength of schedule." Among this seasons best teams, Stanford played the toughest schedule. And then there is two-time defending champion Alabama (11-1). "Were not a natural playoff sport," said Duke coach David Cutcliffe, who was the offensive co-ordinator at Tennessee when it won the first BCS championship game against Florida State in the 1999 Fiesta Bowl. "I think we can make this work with four. "And the reason I think well make this work is I think what were all going to find out is the arguments are going to get bigger. Were going to go from a few schools being angry to a lot of schools being angry, and maybe thats going to be a good thing. I just want to be in the argument." Florida State showed Cutcliffe how far away Duke is from being in the argument in a 45-7 victory Saturday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. In a season defined by blowouts, the only drama for Florida State came off the field, when quarterback Jameis Winston was investigated for sexual assault. The state attorney said there was not enough evidence to charge the redshirt freshman with a crime two days before the Seminoles played Duke. Winston is the runaway favourite to win the Heisman Trophy next Saturday. Auburn completed its worst-to-first run with a 59-42 victory in the Southeastern Conference championship game against Missouri. The Tigers didnt win a conference game last season. "This time last year, we were home, hanging out watching other guys play ball," running back Tre Mason said. "Thats not really what you want to be doing." Mason ran for 304 yards and four TDs against Mizzou to make a late Heisman push of his own. The Tigers have had some good fortune, including improbable plays to beat Georgia and Alabama. That left Auburn to try to extend the SECs BCS championship game winning streak to eight games against the school that played for the first three BCS titles under Bobby Bowden. 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