LaLiga have confirmed that the plan to hold a league game between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami in December have been scrapped.
As the BBC recall, the Spanish football federation (RFEF) gave the green light to move the LaLiga game to the Hard Rock Stadium on 20 December back in August, and this has led to a wave of protests for a multitude of reasons.
For example, the players stood still for the first 15 seconds of Spanish league games over the weekend, while there were a variety of banners and statements from various groups all against the unprecedented move.
The promoters of the match – Relevent – claim that the reason for the U-turn is because there is ‘insufficient time’ to organise things, also citing ‘uncertainty in Spain’. Now, the match will take place at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica, as originally scheduled.
The decision was actually made official during last night’s game between Villarreal and Manchester City in the Champions League, a 2-0 defeat for the Yellow Submarine. This caused further uproar, with Villarreal boss Marcelino questioning the timing.
“It is absolutely disrespectful to the club, professionals and board of directors and fans. From here onwards, the club will send an official communication but this is just what I think,” he said.
La Liga have announced that the Villarreal vs. Barcelona match in Miami has been canceled 🚫 pic.twitter.com/Peq3BezhXg
— B/R Football (@brfootball) October 21, 2025
Milan-Como under the microscope
At the same time as the Villarreal-Barca game, UEFA also decided to sanction the proposal for AC Milan to move a home game against Como to Optus Stadium, in Perth, Western Australia.
There was at least a reason for the relocation in this case: San Siro is unusable from 6 February to 22 February 2026, because of the Winter Olympic Games that are being held in Milano-Cortina. This clash forced the Rossoneri to look into other venues.
This decision also drew a largely negative reaction from the masses, and we did a deep-dive into the topic in a recent article. Now that the LaLiga game in Miami has been kiboshed, eyeballs are on UEFA, Lega Serie A, Milan and Como to see if they follow suit.
Otherwise, that game would set a rather big precedent: it would become the first game in a European league to be played outside of the continent. Is that worth the €12m kitty reportedly on offer to play in Australia? The clubs and governing bodies will decide.