FC Barcelona confirmed that it will return to Camp Nou.
AFP via Getty Images
FC Barcelona confirmed that it will return to its Camp Nou stadium on November 7, which is when the first team will hold an open training session at 11:00 local time set to be witnessed by up to 23,000 fans.
Tickets for the Friday morning session went on sale to members for 5 on Friday, and they will enjoy an exclusive 48-hour period of being able to reserve their seat in the stadium ahead of the general public having their turn for 10.
Barca said that the session “will also serve as a technical and operational test to ensure the proper functioning of systems, access points, and various aspects of the facility, as part of the stadium’s gradual reopening process”.
The event is important for the club, because it hints at a return to its spiritual home, which closed its doors for a renovation in spring 2023, for competitive matches.
Barca hosts Athletic Club in the ground on November 22nd, which is also around the time of the Blaugrana’s 126th anniversary.
President Joan Laporta had originally aimed for the Camp Nou to be ready a year previously, but delays with construction and receiving the necessary clearance or permits from Barcelona’s City Council put paid to a number of proposed dates.
It now seems more likely that Barca will be able to host games in a stadium, which will hold 105,000 punters when completely finished, before 2025 has drawn to a close. But it has big plans years down the line.
FC Barcelona wants to host the 2029 Champions League final
As explained by Mundo Deportivo, citing anonymous sources, Barca has, through the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) already applied to host the 2028/2029 Champions League final.
Fans of the sport’s most coveted club competition will remember that the stadium received one of its most dramatic finals in 1999, when Manchester United came up with a pair of last-gasp injury time goals to beat Bayern Munich 2-1.
Coincidentally, it will go up against a stadium where it topped the Red Devils in 2011, Wembley, for the rights to 2028 final.
Something that perhaps goes against FC Barcelona is the fact that Atletico Madrid will host the final in 2027, and UEFA might not see it appropriate to have two editions of the decider in the same country so close together.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomsanderson/2025/10/31/fc-barcelona-confirms-camp-nou-return-and-makes-champions-league-request/
