Barcelona Returns to Camp Nou After 909 Days

Barcelona returns to Camp Nou. Finally. It has been 909 days since Barcelona last played an official match at Camp Nou. Over two and a half years during which the stadium remained silent as the ambitious Espai Barça project progressed. During this time, there has been much controversy over the return to the Blaugrana stronghold and several failed attempts by the club's management.

But the 'D-Day' has arrived. This coming Saturday, Barcelona returns to their stadium to play the league match against Athletic. The club has confirmed that the match will take place in the renovated stadium at 16:15, marking a symbolic and operational milestone in the transformation of the venue.

The return comes after the club received the first occupancy license corresponding to Phase 1B, a key permit that authorizes the opening of the entire Lateral area and increases the available capacity to 45,401 spectators. This authorization complements the previous concession of Phase 1A, which already allowed partial use of the Tribune and South Goal. With these two stages activated, the stadium regains a significant part of its stands and can once again host a La Liga match under safe conditions.

Although football returns to Camp Nou, the club continues to work on Phase 1C, aimed at enabling the North Goal for regular use. This final phase involves completing improvements related to comfort, accessibility, and evacuation, so that the venue can operate with greater capacity without compromising safety standards. Although there is no definitive date for its completion, the club assures that progress is constant.

With the return achieved, Barça is now working with UEFA to also play the next Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt at Camp Nou, pending official confirmation. UEFA requires teams to play in the same stadium throughout the group stage, but the Blaugrana club has filed appeals to receive authorization to return home before the decisive rounds begin.

Regarding capacity, the slightly more than 45,000 available seats represent an intermediate step within the overall project, which envisions a fully transformed stadium with expanded capacity and new hospitality spaces. The works have modified internal routes, access points, and evacuation points, incorporating new safety systems, more railings, reinforced exits, and automatic extinguishing technology. Additionally, access gates and integrated ticketing systems have been implemented to coexist with the ongoing construction activity.

On Friday, November 7th, Barcelona's first team held an open training session. The club considered it a litmus test to assess the possibility of returning for a match on November 22nd against Athletic. After 909 days of construction, playing at the Olympic Stadium in Montjuic and even at Johan Cruyff, Barcelona returns to play on the Camp Nou pitch.