BARCELONA: La Liga’s plan to hold a Barcelona match in Miami in December has been called off because of “uncertainty” about the game within Spain, the Spanish top flight said in a statement Tuesday.
Champions Barca were set to face Villarreal in the United States on December 20, which would have been the first European league fixture to be played abroad.
La Liga said their promoter for the match decided to cancel the organization of the event because of “uncertainty generated in Spain in recent weeks.”
The Spanish topflight said they “deeply regret that the project, which represented a historic and unparallelled opportunity to take Spanish football to the international stage, cannot go ahead.”
Tickets for the game at the Hard Rock Stadium were due to become available on Tuesday but organizers said the presale was “delayed” before the plan was scrapped.
The match will now be held at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica home as normal.
European football governing body UEFA said they opposed the idea of games being played overseas but would allow it on an exceptional basis, along with a Serie A match in Australia in February between AC Milan and Como.
The plan to hold the match in the United States was criticized by various parties.
The Spanish Footballers’ Association (AFE) organized protests against it last weekend, with players from every team not moving for 15 seconds at the start of each league match.
Spanish giants Real Madrid also railed against it institutionally, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said Tuesday it would adulterate the competition.
Madrid captain Dani Carvajal told La Liga president Javier Tebas the game being held abroad would be “a stain” on the competition.
La Liga have been trying to hold a match abroad for several years.
La Liga plan to hold Villarreal v Barcelona match in Miami off
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La Liga plan to hold Villarreal v Barcelona match in Miami off
- La Liga said their promoter for the match decided to cancel the organization of the event because of “uncertainty generated in Spain in recent weeks“
- Tickets for the game at the Hard Rock Stadium were due to become available on Tuesday but organizers said the presale was “delayed“
Barcelona pounces on Real Madrid stumble and regains lead of La Liga with a 3-0 win over Levante
- Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna
MADRID: Barcelona took advantage of Real Madrid’s stumble and regained the Spanish league lead with a comfortable 3-0 win over relegation-threatened Levante on Sunday.
Marc Bernal, Frenkie de Jong and Fermín López scored a goal each as Barcelona ended a two-game losing streak to get back in front of rival Madrid, which lost 2-1 at Osasuna on Saturday.
Barcelona moved one point ahead of Madrid, which had won eight in a row in the league before losing to Osasuna.
Barcelona was coming off a 2-1 loss to Girona in the league and a 4-0 loss to Atletico Madrid in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
“It was important to win and earn three points again,” Barcelona defender João Cancelo said. “Soccer gives you these opportunities to rebound and that’s what we did today, playing well again after two bad games.”
Barcelona had earned a clean sheet only once in its previous six games in all competitions.
Good start for Barcelona
Bernal scored from close range four minutes into the match at the Camp Nou Stadium. The 18-year-old Bernal had scored his first goal with the first team two rounds ago in a win over Mallorca.
“They had an early chance but my goal helped us settle and gain some confidence,” Bernal said.
De Jong added to the lead from inside the area in the 32nd and López sealed the victory with a beautiful long-range shot in the 81st, with the ball ricocheting off the post before going into the net.
Levante’s Australian goalkeeper Mathew Ryan kept Barcelona from adding the fourth with a pair of outstanding saves in a row in the final minutes, first off a header by Raphinha and then off a point-blank strike from López on the rebound.
It was the fourth straight defeat for Levante, which sits in 19th place. It is one point ahead of last-place Oviedo, which has a game in hand.
Levante has only one victory in its last eight matches.
Pedri entered the match in the 66th to make his return to action after an injury layoff.
Other results
Sevilla won 1-0 at 10-man Getafe for its second win in its last 10 matches in all competitions.
Djibril Sow scored a 64th-minute winner for the visitors. Getafe played a man down from the 26th after a straight red card for Djene Dakonam.
The result left Sevilla in 11th place, immediately above Getafe.
Third-place Villarreal, Barcelona’s next league opponent, can restore a three-point gap to fourth-place Atletico Madrid if it beats Valencia at home later Sunday. Atletico beat Espanyol 4-2 at home on Saturday.
