Madridistas All Over Copa And Euros Collide While Colombians Dominate - The Other Teams Thread

I think they benefit from not having to deal with the hostility of La Ceramica (although they usually beat Villareal there). They will basically have two home games against Villareal this season.

 

Did the Villareal fans get a vote in this? I'm sure they were looking forward to that game at home.

 

Most definitely it riggs the competition in their favor but from a theoretical standpoint only. In practice it's gonna be a nightmare for them as you pointed out.im not worried about the whole villarreal disadvantage point, we always say they gift Barca the points anyway. I'm worried about futbol going down the drain and it's another step towards that but other than that.....

Hope everything goes wrong for both teams in this little side quest.

 

Even Barca’s captain is against the idea of playing in Miami.

 

I see a Messi celebration taking place before the game, including some Villareal players cyring upon seeing him in person.

 

I simply can't fathom that there is another international break next month. Including this week, we only get 3 weeks of club football throughout the next 7 weeks.

We come back for 3 weeks of club football and then they're off to their national teams again.

 

Their buying that season ticket for games against the Barcelona's and Madrid's. Wonder how well it sells if the fans know that game isn't happening.

 

You may be aware of this already, but Villarreal is an extremely small town, with a population of 50,000 people, and the Ceramica holds 23,000. So every home game, half of the towns population is in the stadium watching their team.

That’s a completely unique experience. They’ll be there watching their team against anyone.

Villarreal’s owner is a billionaire from Villarreal, and I’m sure he has the support of the town to have accepted Barcelona’s/Relevent’s offer. He will probably use the extra cash to reinvest back into the stadium or the facilities around the stadium. He has owned the club since 1997 when they were in Sgunda, so there’s a deep connection there between owner, club, fans and the town.

 

Villarreal may have dropped points in previous encounters at the Cerámica due to underwhelming performances, but it does not mean that La Liga can officially hand Barcelona a more advantageous situation. Many seem willing to accept it, because they had already written off Villarreal’s chances against Barcelona at the Cerámica. But regardless of what the stats suggest, I believe it still goes against the spirit of fair competition. I wouldn’t watch football—or any sport, for that matter—if everything were based purely on stats. I still believe in the beauty of unpredictability in sport. Otherwise, I might as well just be a fan of Disney on Ice. That stats does not make it right. It is giving up "something" before it even starts.

As I said earlier, i would have agreed to it if I am running Villarreal. The financial benefits for "my club" outweighs the result. Some may argue La Liga has always been a two- or three-horse race, and Villarreal isn't in that race. But Villarreal is still fighting for a spot in Europe. In that sense, clubs like Athletic, Real Betis or Sevilla haven’t lost anything—in fact, they’ve arguably gained from Villarreal losing a home match. Sevilla just gained 3 points from Barcelona, btw. And I expect Barcelona to lose some point in away matches again this season. Even if Villarreal accepts it knowing the fact that they stand no chance against Barcelona, it does not make it right.

 

Whatever happened to Dele Ali? Dude was being hyped like he was the next best thing and he completely fell off the map.

 

He is like 30 and just there. I think he is actually without a team for a while now but not retired

 

He was hot stuff in 2017 when Spurs thumped us at Wembley, scoring two goals.

I was in the stands that day and it was not a fun experience

 

I was also in the stands that day. Terrible night haha.