Barcelona will play their first home match of the season at the 6,000-capacity ground where their reserve and women’s teams play, with the club’s return to the Camp Nou once again put back.
The announcement comes just five days before their La Liga fixture against Valencia — but the Spanish champions still have not confirmed where they plan to play their other home matches this season, amid delays and uncertainty around the reconstruction project at their iconic stadium.
Barca had hoped to have returned to the Camp Nou by now, with plans put in place to open the ground at a reduced capacity of around 27,000 in time for Sunday’s match.
However, they still do not have the necessary permits from the Barcelona city council to open the venue, and nor have any test events been held. It is still undergoing renovations that are a long way from being fully finished.
The 6,000-capacity Estadi Johan Cruyff hosted Barcelona’s win over Como in the Joan Gamper trophy last month. (Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Barca have not played at the Camp Nou since starting a €1.5billion refurbishment of the ground and surrounding area in June 2023, hosting games at the 55,000-capacity Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, a short distance across the city on Montjuic, over the past two seasons.
But this season they have not announced any plans to return to Montjuic — and the stadium there is not available for when Barca are due to host Valencia because a Post Malone concert is taking place two days before.
Now, just five days before the Valencia game, and with no tickets having yet been put on sale, Barca have finally announced they will host it at their 6,000-capacity Estadi Johan Cruyff.
In theory, the ground does not actually meet the criteria required to host La Liga games. Ordinarily the competition body requires grounds to have a minimum capacity of 8,000. Nor is the stadium — which is adjacent to Barca’s training ground in Sant Joan Despi — equipped with the technology La Liga requires for VAR to function.
However, La Liga’s rulebook allows an exception regarding their capacity standards. According to article XIII in the competition’s rules, “La Liga’s Comision Delegada (Delegate Comission) will be entitled to, following demographic, architectural, technical or historical reasons within the club, to accept the reduction of their minimum capacity required”.
Sources from La Liga and Barca told The Athletic the acceptance of the Johan Cruyff stadium to hold a match is for architectural reasons, as the Camp Nou is still being built.
La Liga already allowed Barca to play their first three matches of the season — victories over Mallorca and Levante and a draw at Rayo Vallecano — away from home after the Catalan club’s request to do so.
The Camp Nou rebuild, which will raise capacity to 105,000, is currently scheduled to be completed in June, but Barca have long planned to return to the ground at a reduced capacity. They first planned to get back there in November 2024, in time for the club’s 125th anniversary celebrations, before eventually deciding to continue playing on Montjuic.
Earlier this summer Barca said they would hold their traditional season-opening friendly match, the Joan Gamper Trophy, at the ground on August 10, but that target was also missed — with the match eventually held at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.
(Top photo: Xavier Bonilla/NurPhoto via Getty Images)