Dani Carvajal, star of Real Madrid and the Spanish national team, announced his strong opposition to holding the La Liga match between Villarreal and Barcelona in Miami, USA, considering it a "clear distortion of the competition."

Carvajal stated in remarks reported by Teledeporte: "I see it as a very clear manipulation of the competition, as it does not allow all La Liga clubs to play under the same conditions. It is important that we are fair — we the players, the clubs, and the league — and we must strive for justice, and this decision does not do that."

During the current round of the league, which concluded with the match between Alavés and Valencia on Monday evening, players from all teams staged a symbolic pause of 10 to 15 seconds at the beginning of the matches in protest against the decision to move the match abroad.

This protest was organized by the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) to express its rejection of the "lack of transparency, dialogue, and consistency from La Liga" regarding the holding of the Villarreal – Barcelona match on December 20 in Miami, as part of the 17th round of La Liga.

The Spanish players' union also announced on Monday that it proposed to La Liga to advance the date of the joint committee meeting for the collective bargaining agreement from Friday, December 24, to Wednesday, December 22, in order to discuss the transfer of the match to the United States.