Girona vs. Barcelona likely to be played in the United States
The two Catalan clubs are set to be the big losers from Liga de Futbol Professional’s latest plan to expand internationally.
It was announced earlier in the summer that one La Liga match will be played abroad for the next 15 seasons as they aim to expand into the US market. The Premier League has shown the power of expanding into international markets through intelligent marketing due to the massive TV rights deals that they have.
Playing a game abroad would attract interest especially if a big team is involved and from that the plan would be to build up their presence and create an external viewing base willing to watch the league. This meant that Real Madrid and Barcelona were always going to be the main candidates for these games due to the players they have and their exciting style of play, although El Clasico has been confirmed as staying in Spain.
According to L’Esportiu, the Girona vs. Barcelona fixture at the Montolivi on the weekend of the 26/27th of January will be the match played in Miami. It hasn’t been officially confirmed, but Girona are already preparing for it by working out how to please their season ticket holders.
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This is far from ideal timing for Barcelona because the Copa del Rey quarter-finals are either side of that match, so the extra travelling would be a nightmare to deal with, especially when it was initially going to be a short trip to Girona. It also takes one of, if not, the most important games of the season for Girona away from the local area. Playing against their bigger Catalan rival draws in lots of fans due to it being a local rivalry even if Girona are relatively new to the top division.
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There have been reports that the players from all the top clubs are willing to go on strike in order to stop this plan from being put into action, with one of major reasons being that they weren’t consulted. Therefore, there is a strong chance that this match abroad won’t go ahead at least for this season. However, it could be the start of a worrying trend as La Liga and other leagues aim to catch up financially to the powerhouse that is the Premier League.