Villarreal and Barcelona look set to hold a La Liga match outside of Europe for the first time in history. The Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) confirmed they received a request, from both club's, for Villarreal’s La Liga meeting with Barcelona, scheduled for December, to change venue to Miami at The Hard Rock Stadium. The RFEF released a statement saying: "At its meeting on 11 August 2025, the RFEF board of directors received a request from Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona to play their match on matchday 17 of the first division in the United States.” READ MORE: This is the Gavin Bazunu save that even had Wrexham boss Phil Parkinson gushing with praise READ MORE: Shels boss Joey O'Brien tells RTE 'doesn't bother me' as national broadcaster snubs big Uefa night "The Royal Spanish Football Federation will submit the request to UEFA to begin the process for subsequent authorisation by Fifa for the match to be played at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami on 20 December 2025." The proposition will now be decided by FIFA and UEFA, as well as the US Soccer Federation, and CONCACAF. The Spanish football supporters' association (FASFE) has condemned the decision, alongside Spanish football fans, saying “We want to express our absolute, total, and firm opposition to the relocation of the #VillarrealCF - #FCBarcelona match to Miami.” They also urged RFEF to “Stop the madness”. There have been rumours of some European leagues wanting to play games abroad previously. Since 2020, the Spanish Super Cup has been held in Saudi Arabia as part of a multi-year hosting agreement, except for the 2020–21 edition, which returned to Spain due to COVID-19 restrictions. The large majority of online fans have not reacted positively to the announcement with some questioning if it will open the floodgates for more league games to be played outside of Spain and if other leagues will follow. One fan posted on social media: “I hope the Spanish football fans unite and protest this as much as I think they would here in England. “There can be no doubt that more and more of this will happen, but taking away league games is ripping the game out at the root.” Another said: “Saudi 'English' Premier League games just around the corner.” Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email.