Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong criticized plans to play a La Liga match between his Spanish club and Villarreal in Miami later this year. He said he understood the commercial reasons but didn’t like the idea.
Villarreal’s home match against Barcelona will take place on December 20 at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, La Liga president Javier Tebas said on Wednesday. It is the first time that an official European competition match is played abroad.
«I can understand the clubs; they will benefit from it,» De Jong said of the controversial decision as he attended the Dutch press conference ahead of Thursday’s World Cup qualifier in Malta.
Also read | La Liga confirms its first-ever regular season match abroad, with Villarreal taking on Barcelona in the US
«But I wouldn’t have decided it myself. I don’t agree with it either. It’s also unfair, competitively speaking.»
«We are now playing an away match on a neutral ground. But I don’t have the feeling that anyone is listening to us,» said De Jong.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin called it a «regrettable» decision to have two European competition matches played abroad and emphasized that this «will not set a precedent».
In February, AC Milan’s Italian Serie A match against Como will be played in Perth, Australia.
Published on October 9, 2025
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2)/two-babies-hands-and-feet-100825-c40ee110ff8b4111a6a8fc54562d2d5c.jpg?w=238&resize=238,178&ssl=1 "Las mujeres aprenden que no están relacionadas biológicamente con sus padres. Fueron cambiados al nacer.")
