Barcelona star latest name to slam plans for La Liga fixtures in the United States

Martin Macdonald

• 9 Oct 2025 17:00 CDT
• 2 min read

News

Barcelona star Frenkie de Jong is the latest name in football to slam plans to host a La Liga fixture in the United States.

As part of a major money-making proposal - and to boost club fandom abroad - there are plans from La Liga to play Villarreal versus Barcelona in Miami and from Serie A to play Milan versus Como in Perth, Australia.

Supporters have naturally slammed the proposals, believing they take away from the integrity of the competition as there will now be uneven home and away fixtures, while those domestic fans at home matches every week will likely be unable to attend.

Players, too, are outraged, mostly due to the travel aspect.

"I don't like us going there, and I don't agree with it,"the Dutchman told reporters.

"It's not fair for the competition and I don't think it's right for the players given the long flight."

"For the clubs, it's about expanding their brand globally. That's probably what it's all about. We always complain about the match schedule and the excessive travel.

"The clubs are going to get paid for this, but I don't agree with playing a league game in Miami. I understand that other clubs don't agree."

The match between Barcelona and Villarreal is actually designated as a home match for Villarreal, but there will undoubtedly be more Barca fans in attendance in Miami. Ronald Koeman believes the Blaugrana have therefore managed to avoid what is usually a tricky away fixture.

"It doesn't make any sense," he said, agreeing with De Jong.

"It's ridiculous. Frenkie gives a good explanation. It's not fair. Villarreal-Barcelona is always a difficult away game for Barca, and now they're playing it on a neutral ground. There are more Barcelona fans in the stands than Villarreal fans. So it's not fair either."

UEFA announced opposition to the plans, but ultimately passed the buck to FIFA, who will hold the ultimate decision to allow or cancel the foreign fixtures.

Adrien Rabiot unhappy with Australia fixture

Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot also reactively negatively to the news, calling the proposals "absurd".

“I was surprised when I learned that AC Milan and I will be playing a Serie A match against Como… in Australia! It’s completely crazy,” he told Le Figaro.

“These are financial agreements to give visibility to the league, things that are beyond us. There’s a lot of talk about schedules and player health, but this all seems truly absurd. It’s crazy to travel so many miles for a match between two Italian teams in Australia. We have to adapt, as always.”

The FootballTransfers app

Check out FootballTransfers' new app for all of football's big storylines, transfer rumours and exclusive news in one convenient place directly on your mobile device.

The FootballTransfers app is available in the Apple App Store. Download here:

•App Store