The lengthy wait was supposed to finish this weekend. Barcelona followers had circled the date when their membership would lastly make its long-anticipated return residence. However as uncertainty lingered, the membership needed to decide — and it wasn’t the one most anticipated. As a substitute of reopening their iconic floor, Barcelona will play their first La Liga residence match of the season at a really completely different venue.
The query “Is Camp Nou lastly prepared?” has been hovering for months. The stadium, closed since 2023 for an enormous $1.75 billion renovation venture, was initially anticipated to partially reopen within the fall of 2024. That deadline slipped, and supporters have been left clinging to every new announcement.
Barcelona issued a press release this week, lastly confirming that their upcoming La Liga conflict towards Valencia on Sunday, September 14 is not going to be held on the Spotify Camp Nou.
“Barcelona pronounces that the match equivalent to Matchday 4 of LaLiga, scheduled for Sunday, September 14 at 9:00 p.m. towards Valencia CF, is not going to but be capable of happen on the Spotify Camp Nou,” the membership wrote. “The Membership is working intensively to acquire the mandatory administrative permits for the opening of the Spotify Camp Nou within the coming weeks. Because of this, the match will as a substitute be performed on the Estadi Johan Cruyff.”
Why Estadi Johan Cruyff?
For the primary time in historical past, Barcelona’s males’s group will play an official La Liga fixture on the Estadi Johan Cruyff, the 6,000-seat stadium normally reserved for the membership’s ladies’s aspect and Barca Atletic.
The choice got here all the way down to logistics. With Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys — Barcelona’s residence for the previous two seasons — unavailable because of a Put up Malone live performance, the membership needed to discover an emergency resolution. La Liga granted particular permission regardless of Johan Cruyff’s failure to fulfill the usual minimal capability.
To conform, the Blaugrana will set up momentary VAR cameras, a brand new fiber optic community, and upgrades to the pitch’s irrigation system. However even with these changes, the venue represents an enormous downgrade in scale from Camp Nou’s eventual 105,000-seat rebuild and even the momentary 27,000-capacity part that was meant to open first.
Blow for supporters
Whereas the membership expressed gratitude to its followers — “Barcelona want to thank its members and followers for his or her understanding and help throughout such a fancy but thrilling course of because the return to the brand new Spotify Camp Nou” — many supporters are removed from happy.
The discount from tens of hundreds of seats to only 6,000 has left numerous followers with out the prospect to look at a marquee fixture towards Valencia. To handle the restricted availability, the Catalan aspect introduced a ticket lottery for season cross holders from the Montjuic years. Solely a handful will make it inside Johan Cruyff on Sunday night time.
What occurs subsequent?
The Valencia conflict might solely be the start of additional complications. Barcelona’s schedule within the coming weeks contains matches towards Getafe on September 21, Actual Sociedad on September 28, and Paris Saint-Germain on October 1 within the Champions League.
If the Camp Nou continues to be not cleared to be used by then, the membership is predicted to return to Montjuic, the place a rental settlement with the Metropolis Council stays in place till February 2026. Nonetheless, UEFA guidelines might complicate issues if Barcelona want to change stadiums mid-competition in the course of the Champions League.
