Less than two weeks after LaLiga announced it would stage its first-ever regular-season match outside of Spain, with champions Barcelona taking on Villarreal at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 20, it confirmed on Tuesday that the game was off.
It was the latest in a long line of setbacks for the league in its attempts to host a competitive fixture on foreign soil, but certainly the most chastening and high profile.
While top European clubs playing matches against each other abroad is nothing new -- with heavyweight clashes on preseason tours and even Super Cup matches now annual events across the globe -- so far they have yet to follow the lead of U.