Real Madrid issue strong statement against Barcelona’s plan to play La Liga match vs. Villarreal in Miami
In recent weeks, there has been debate over the possibility of playing a La Liga match outside Spanish territory for the first time. The chosen venue is Miami, and the featured teams are Barcelona and Villarreal. However, Real Madrid have now issued a strong opinion on the matter.
On Monday, the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), through its Board of Directors, approved the idea of taking Barcelona and Villarreal to U.S. soil for a match scheduled for December 20, as part of La Liga’s expansion plan to attract new audiences around the world.
But now the other Spanish giant has voiced its disagreement. “Real Madrid C.F. would like to make it clear to its members, supporters, and football fans in general that it firmly rejects the proposal to play the National First Division League Championship match between Villarreal C.F. and F.C. Barcelona on match day 17 outside Spain,” begins the statement published on the club’s official website.
“The measure, which was taken without prior information or consultation of the clubs participating in the competition, infringes the essential principle of territorial reciprocity, which applies in two-legged league competitions (one match at home and the other at the home of the opposing team), upsetting the competitive balance and giving an undue sporting advantage to the applicant clubs,” the message from Los Merengues continues.
Later in the same statement, Real Madrid argue that this plan to play La Liga matches outside of Spain “breaks the equality between contenders, compromises the legitimacy of the results, and sets an unacceptable precedent.” At the same time, they point out that this could bring serious consequences “would be a turning point in the world of football,” by allowing “exceptions based on non-sporting interests, clearly affecting sporting integrity and risking the adulteration of the competition.”
The measures taken by Real Madrid
Real Madrid’s stance against holding the match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami goes beyond simply releasing a statement. The side led by Florentino Perez also claimed to have taken concrete steps to prevent the plan from going forward.
With the backing of the RFEF’s Board of Directors, the proposal must now be submitted to UEFA and then to FIFA for approval. And Real Madrid announced that they have sent formal requests for both organizations to reject the plan. In addition, they have also requested that Spain’s National Sports Council deny the necessary administrative authorization.
Finally, Los Blancos claim that this kind of decision can only move forward with the unanimous and explicit approval of all clubs participating in the tournament—not just by the initiative of two of them.
Villarreal’s stance
Beyond Real Madrid’s firm position, Villarreal’s stance is also important. After all, they are the team most directly affected by the possible relocation to Miami, since the match was originally set to be played at the Estadi de la Ceramica. Moving it to another continent would cause the team to lose its home-field advantage, while also creating an inconvenience for its fans.
However, Villarreal president Fernando Roig announced a set of benefits. “Every fan who wants to go to Miami to see the match will be able to do so for free—travel and ticket included, with no limit on requests,” he explained, according to Marca. He also clarified that those who can’t, or don’t want to, make the trip will receive a 20% discount on their season tickets for the 2025–26 campaign.