Courtois: La Liga Matches In The United States Change Competition

JAKARTA - The debate over the La Liga match between Villarreal vs Barcelona, which was originally planned to be held in the United States, is still causing debate.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois this week denounced plans to play a regular La Liga game in Miami, Ameirka Serikat, saying the move really affected competition integrity.

He assessed that Barcelona, Real Madrid rivals, actually benefited from playing games in neutral places, instead of traveling to Villarreal's Estadio La Ceramica.

"Yes, it really affects competition integrity. It's easy to talk about NBA and NFL (playing abroad)."

"However, in the NBA they have 82 games, played for a playoff game, and that barely changes anything."

"In the NFL, the decision is made by all team owners, by everyone. In La Liga, they do whatever they want."

"It affects competition integrity and violates the players' deal. That's not true. You have to play home and away."

"Playing away is very difficult in this league, including traveling to Villarreal headquarters. Everyone has to play at home and away unless there is a bad situation," said Courtois.

La Liga has been trying to hold regular season matches in the United States for a long time. They first tried to host a match between Girona and Barcelona in Miami in the 2018/2019 season.

La Liga president Javier Tebas said the plan would help long-term revenue growth.

It was only in the 2025/2026 season that the plan was approved last week, both from the UEFA and the United States Football Federation (US Soccer).

UEFA finally melted and allowed Villarreal vs Barcelona's match to be played in the United States even though they admitted that they had a heavy heart to agree to the proposal.

The agreement also gave birth to a wave of protests. Last weekend, La Liga players stopped the match during the first 15 seconds of each match as a form of protest.

However, the funny thing was that the protests in a number of matches were sabotaged by not being broadcasted on television. Live broadcast instead turned to the stadium's exterior footage.

The Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) also firmly protested by saying there was a lack of transparency and dialogue in the decision-making process.

"I don't know why you're surprised. It's been like that for a long time. I said after the 2025 Club World Cup, I've never seen any league president in any sport speak like Tebas. Hiding (protes) is censorship and manipulation. That's serious, "said Courtois.

Real Madrid as a team entered the wave of protests. They were even very vocal by trying to block plans for matches in Miami--asked UEFA, the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), and the Spanish Ministry of Sports (CSD) to reject the proposal.

"I've answered questions about this several times. This club has legally defended its interests and we'll see what happens," said Real Madrid manager, Xabi Alonso.

The protests were finally successful. La Liga officially canceled the Villarreal vs Barcelona match in Miami.

Through its official statement, La Liga argued that the cancellation was due to their partner in the United States, Relevent, who decided to see the reaction in Spain.

The plan to sell tickets for the match this week was also postponed.