Barca will take on Villarreal in a La Liga fixture at Hard Rock Stadium on December 20 and the midfielder believes that the move goes against the integrity of the competition.

De Jong said: "I can understand the clubs; they'll profit from it.

"But I wouldn't have decided it myself. I don't agree with it either. It's also unfair, competitively speaking.

"We will now be playing an away match at a neutral venue. But I don't feel like anyone is listening to us."

The Dutch international is the latest player to question the plans of staging games abroad, after AC Milan midfielder Adrien Rabiot hit out at the "truly absurd" decision to play the club's Serie A game against Como in February in Perth, Australia.

The French midfielder said: "All of this is beyond our control. There's a lot of talk about schedules and player health, but this all seems truly absurd. It's crazy to travel so many miles for a match between two Italian teams in Australia. We have to adapt, as always."

However, Serie A chief executive Luigi de Siervo has called for Rabiot to "respect his employer".

The football chief said: "He's right, but Rabiot forgets, like all footballers who earn millions of euros, that they are paid to carry out an activity, to play football.

"He should have respect for the money he earns, complying with the wishes of his employer, Milan, who accepted and pushed for this match to be played abroad."