It’s a Catalan derby
LaLiga have made a decision on which fixture this season will be relocated to the United States.
They intend to make Girona vs Barcelona, taking place on matchday 21, the first LaLiga fixture to take place overseas.
According to Cadena SER, the league’s chief Javier Tebas has proposed this to Girona and is expecting a response from the club within the coming days.
The fixture, originally supposed to take place at Girona’s home of Estadi Montilivi on January 27th, sits between the two legs of the Copa del Rey quarter finals. It’s fair probably that at least one of Girona and Barcelon will reach the last eight of the cup. Transatlantic flights is the last thing either team would want between two legs of a quarter-final.
Girona will also be reluctant to allow their home tie against Barcelona, at which they would expect an electric atmosphere, to be moved to a neutral venue where most in attendance will be rooting for their rivals.
The captains of LaLiga teams have issued a joint statement condemning the decision to move a match to the United States, and a meeting between the players’ association and the league is set to take place in the coming weeks to resolve the dispute.
It is their last resort, but the players have informed the league that they are prepared to go on strike to stop it from happening.
