La Liga still hope to hold major match in the USA despite previous protests

Martin Macdonald

• 27 Feb 2026 04:45 CST
• 4 min read

News

La Liga's controversial plans to hold a fixture in the United States are apparently not dead.

This season, Barcelona were scheduled to play Villarreal in Miami and when those plans were announced, there was outrage among fans, coaches and players.

The two Spanish sides were set to make history as the fixture would have been the first time that a Primera Division match took place on foreign soil.

La Liga insisted that the plans were put in motion in order to help grow Spanish football to a new audience, though there was obviously a financial incentive also.

Both clubs were set to receive around €6 million, though the Yellow Submarine would have been compensated for a loss in ticket revenue as it is officially their home fixture.

The main criticism pointed to the fact the home and away balance of the season would have been skewed. The match was Villarreal's home game, but playing in Miami would have undoubtedly seen more Barcelona fans present at the match.

In the opinion of other clubs, Real Madrid in particular, that gave the Blaugrana a sporting advantage over their competitors as they effectively would have played 19 home matches even if one was in the United States.

Following the outcry, La Liga announced the cancellation of the fixture during Villarreal's Champions League match against Manchester City in October.

La Liga president Javier Tebas is defiant, though, and insists fixtures will take place in the United States in the future.

"We are going to try again. I'm not sure when. We have to bring it up at the right time," Tebas told reporters at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit.

"I don't think it will cause damage. We are talking about one match out of 380 in a season."

He believes it is inevitable that European football matches wll eventually be played abroad as there is already sports coming from the other direction, with NBA and NFL matches having already been held in Europe.

"We celebrate Halloween, which we never celebrated 20 years ago. We have NFL games. We have NBA games," Tebas explained.

"Let's see if 50 years from now we'll have the stadiums empty, and the ones for the NBA and the NFL full. Because they don't bring just one game, they all bring many games. They don't come to Europe on vacation, they come to get fans to sign television deals, to get children for their competitions.

"In other words, we opened the doors to Europe. Instead, the United States, which opens the doors for us to go, we close them here in Europe."

La Liga boss comes out swinging

Tebas, who has been championing the plans from the start, previously hit out at the decision to cancel Barcelona versus Villarreal in Miami.

“Today, Spanish football has lost an opportunity to advance, project itself globally, and strengthen its future," he wrote on X.

“The defence of ‘tradition’ is invoked from a narrow-minded and provincial perspective, while the true traditions of European football are threatened by decisions by the governing institutions, which year after year destroy national leagues, the true driving force of the European football industry, amid the naivety and passivity of European leaders who fail to distinguish the inconsequential from the essential.

“The ‘integrity of the competition’ is invoked by those who have been questioning that same integrity for years, pressuring referees and leaders, constructing distorted narratives, or using political and media pressure as a sporting tool.

“I want to thank Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona for their commitment and generosity in being part of a project that only sought the growth of our competition. They weren’t thinking about themselves, they were thinking about everyone.

“LaLiga will continue working, with rigour and conviction, to keep Spanish football competitive, standing up to those who seek to destroy it, but always respecting its roots and ensuring its sustainability.

“Spanish football deserves to look to the future with ambition, not fear. We will keep trying. This time, we came very close.”

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