Marcus Rashford could play his first home game of the season for Barcelona in a stadium far smaller than the one he was expecting.
Despite hopes that Barcelona would begin the defence of their title at the newly renovated Nou Camp stadium, they will instead play their first home match at the much smaller 6,000-seater Johan Cruyff Stadium.
That is because the Nou Camp is still not ready for fans, despite the club saying they would be back playing games there in November 2024, to coincide with the club’s 125th anniversary.
The club had been granted permission to play their first three fixtures away from home to allow the completion of construction work. But even with a little extra time thanks to the international break that followed, the club haven’t yet obtained documents that allow it to open.
The Olympic Stadium, used as their substitute home ground for the past two seasons, is the venue for a Post Malone concert two days before the match – ruling it out of use for Sunday.
Barcelona last played at the Nou Camp in May 2023 – a stadium which could hold up to 100,000 people. Here, we look at what renovations the club is making, why it is taking so long and how fans feel about it.
What renovations have been made to Nou Camp?
The original opening date of the stadium was November 2024
The Nou Camp has served as Barcelona’s home ground since it opened in 1957.
Renovation work began in June 2023, at a cost of around 1.3bn euros, with the goal of modernising the stadium and expanding its capacity to 105,000 – making it one of the largest grounds in the world.
Barcelona have played at the Nou Camp since 1957
Why is the Nou Camp not ready?
But the Nou Camp is not ready to host Sunday’s La Liga home game against Valencia (20:00 BST) – with the switch to a much smaller venue only announced on Tuesday.
The club said in a statement that it is working to get a permit to open the stadium “in the coming weeks”.
That permit, known as the Final Construction Certificate, is granted by the city council.
Reports in Spanish media suggest the stadium is ready to be used, pending the necessary clearance.
In the meantime, using the 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff Stadium – as opposed to a fully operational Nou Camp, or even the 50,000 capacity Olympic Stadium – is going to cost Barcelona a lot of matchday revenue.
“Logically it concerns us more than it worries us,” said a club source regarding the revenue loss.
“But we hope to more than compensate for this inconvenience of reduced income in the coming weeks.”
What is the Johan Cruyff Stadium?
The Johan Cruyff Stadium, named after the former Barcelona player and manager, opened in 2019.
The Johan Cruyff Stadium, home venue for Barcelona’s women’s and youth teams, isn’t officially big enough to host a La Liga game. League rules say a ground must hold at least 8,000 fans.
But an exception has been made in this case on “architectural” grounds.
Work has been done to get the stadium ready, including setting up camera positions for the video assistant referee.
Who can get tickets for the match?
With so few spaces available, the club set up a ballot for tickets – and only those who had held full season tickets for both 2023-24 and 2024-25 could enter it.
‘That’s 16,151 members,” according to the club.
Miquel Taberner, like a lot of Barcelona fans, was unimpressed.
“Most fans feel disappointed, and of course I’m one of them,” he said.
“Camp Nou is not just a stadium, it is the heart of the club and our matchday experience is not the same without it. We understand the work being done is necessary, but the absence is strongly felt.
“Transparency and realistic timelines would help ease that frustration, but unfortunately people on the club don’t feel the same way.”
What do Valencia have to say?
Valencia – looking to improve on last season’s 12th-place finish – have contacted La Liga to question both the choice of venue and the lateness of the switch.
“We were concerned about the uncertainty of not having a designated venue in the same week as the match,” the club said.
“We have been told from FC Barcelona that we could have 290 tickets for our fans so there will finally be Valencia fans in the stands.”
Valencia striker Diego Lopez, speaking on Thursday, acknowledged the situation was far from ideal.
“It’s a situation that I think should have been resolved a long time ago, not only for the team but also for the fans,” he said. “I think they deserve an answer so they can go and cheer on the team.”
When will the Nou Camp be open?
A Barcelona source told BBC Sport that the Nou Camp will be ready to welcome fans for their league match on 28 September against Real Sociedad.
However, they could not confirm whether Barcelona would play their next home match, on 21 September against Getafe, at the Nou Camp.
“We will try to speed it up if possible but we won’t know until the middle of next week,” the source said.
Fans like Miquel are less optimistic.
“Officially, the goal is 2026, but honestly I do foresee a longer view. Large projects often face delays and that’s OK. Our expectations are tempered,” he said.
“The hope is that whenever it opens, it is delivered to the highest standard and worthy of the club’s identity.”
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