The Barcelona and Girona players stood still for 15 seconds after the referee blew his whistle to kick off their league encounter as part of the league-wide protest against the La Liga’s decision to host a regular season match between Barca and Villarreal in the United States’ Miami on December 20.
The protest was following the players’ union announcement of it on Friday, saying all the captains of the top flight teams supported it for games in the ninth round from Friday through Monday. Before Saturday’s match, the Real Oviedo vs Espanyol match also saw the players of both sides pausing for 15 seconds after kick off on Friday.
The union said the symbolic action was to protest the “lack of transparency, dialogue and coherence of La Liga regarding the possibility of playing a game in the United States.”
Barca and Girona players stayed still for the first 15 seconds after kickoff in protest of Barca vs. Villarreal taking place in Miami.
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Even Barcelona coach Hansi Flick and his players were not pleased at having to travel 7,200 kilometers (4,500 miles) to play a regular season game. “My players are not happy, I am not happy, but La Liga decided that we will play this game,” Flick said at a press conference in reply to a question about his position on the game.
However, Barcelona president Joan Laporta backed the move for the match to be played in the United States, saying it represents an opportunity to further push into the American sports market.
In Saturday’s match, substitute Ronald Araujo scored three minutes into added time as Barcelona secured a 2-1 win over a stubborn Girona.
Barcelona took the lead in the 13th minute, when Pedri received Lamine Yamal’s quick ball into the box and ran across the defensive line before dispatching a low left-footed finish.
Yet Axel Witsel’s spectacular bicycle kick off Arnau Martinez’s header levelled for Girona seven minutes later.
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The hosts pushed hard for the winner with five shots on target in the first 30 minutes of the second half and their efforts were finally rewarded when late substitute Araujo struck in added time.
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