The war of words between Real Madrid and the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (LaLiga) over the Villarreal vs. Barcelona overseas match in Miami continues to escalate. Los Blancos have emerged as the most vocal critics of this overseas match and filed a second appeal on Monday to try to block the event. In recent media interviews, Dani Carvajal, Xabi Alonso, and Thibaut Courtois all lashed out at the overseas match, accusing it of “distorting the nature of competition.”
In response to this situation, LaLiga President Javier Tebas shared his views and hit back at Real Madrid in an interview with Camel Live: "I don’t think this distorts the nature of competition; such criticism is nothing but nitpicking. If we’re talking about something that truly distorts competition, it’s those videos from Real Madrid TV last season that clearly pressured the refereeing teams." Tebas has long been critical of Real Madrid’s official TV channel, and he immediately seized the opportunity to hit back after Carvajal stated on Spanish TV, “This obviously undermines the fairness of competition, leaving us unable to compete on a level playing field.”
Notably, Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois also launched a scathing attack on the Miami match and Tebas himself during a press conference ahead of the Champions League match against Juventus: "The Miami match is a distortion of competition. It’s easy to compare it to the NBA or NFL, but those leagues have dense schedules and their formats are approved by all teams via voting. We’re the complete opposite—the league is just acting arbitrarily! This even violates the players' agreement—we’re supposed to play home and away matches, and going to Miami is a totally different thing. Who doesn’t know that Villarreal has a tough home ground to overcome? As for the league’s censorship? They’ve been playing these tricks for a long time, publicly hitting back on social media. I’ve never seen a league president act like this. Covering up the truth is nothing but manipulation and censorship!"
