FC Barcelona hopes for a miracle”: return to Camp Nou on Sunday?

FC Barcelona hopes for a miracle”: return to Camp Nou on Sunday?

FC Barcelona faces a crucial week as the club faces Valencia next Sunday, September 14th. This could be the first home game of the new season in front of their own crowd in the renovated Spotify Camp Nou. There is great interest, but the general conditions for returning to the stadium are currently anything but clear. Kick-off is scheduled for 9:00 p.m., but the exact location of the game is still up in the air.

The return to the Spotify Camp Nou is complicated by the lack of permission from the city administration to use the stadium. They are scheduled to visit the construction site on Tuesday to decide on the game permit. The modernization of the legendary stadium, which has been ongoing since the summer of 2023, has repeatedly been delayed, which is affecting the club's hopes of a quick comeback to its own home ground. Recently there have been reports suggesting that an actual return to play against Valencia could be considered a "miracle" as Barcelona have not yet received the necessary certificates to use the city, as Yahoo Sports reported.

Alternative options

If permission is not granted, Barcelona may have to play at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, which can only accommodate 6,000 fans. This would require an exemption from LaLiga, as the regulations require a minimum capacity of 8,000 spectators. The club would definitely like to avoid a return to the Olympic Stadium, where the club played the last two games of the season, for financial reasons.

Since the last game at Camp Nou, which took place at the end of May 2023, a lot has been invested in modernizing the stadium. However, it is still unclear when the first two tiers and the basement, which are not yet completed, will be available. According to Sportschau, the inauguration of the renovated stadium has been postponed for months, which also affects the holding of the Joan Gamper Trophy game on August 10th concerns, which also had to take place at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

Coach Hansi Flick, who took over the team in the summer of 2023, could celebrate his debut when he returns to the Camp Nou. However, it remains to be seen whether this is actually possible. Barcelona and its fans are hoping for positive news from the city administration in order to experience the long-awaited moment of returning to their own stadium.