UEFA has given Barcelona the go-ahead to play Champions League matches at their partially rebuilt Camp Nou stadium, the La Liga giants said on Wednesday.
The news comes just a couple of days after Barca announced their long-awaited return to league action at the stadium, which had been beset by construction chaos, after more than two years in exile.
The Spanish champions will host Eintracht Frankfurt at the Camp Nou on December 9, just over two weeks after reinaugurating the stadium against Athletic Bilbao in domestic action on November 22.
Barcelona said in a statement that “UEFA accepted the request, considering that all the necessary requirements have been met.”
The Camp Nou return will end a messy saga in which Barcelona repeatedly had to postpone their announced reopening of the stadium as construction delays and a failure to secure safety licences curtailed their plans.
The Catalans were humiliatingly forced to play two matches at their 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff training ground stadium in the first weeks of the season after failing to get the permit they needed for Camp Nou, because of safety reasons.
They have since then been playing in the 55,000-seater Olympic stadium on Montjuic hill.
Barcelona will open the Camp Nou against Bilbao with a temporary capacity of 45,401 spectators, with space for 105,000 when the top tier is eventually completed.
They opened the stadium up for 23,000 fans to watch a training session earlier in November as a test event in the reopening process.
The delay in the work represents a huge financial loss for the club, which needs the revenue generated by its stadium to regain stability.
Financially troubled Barcelona are estimated to be spending 1.5 billion euros ($1.74bn) on the rebuild.
Barcelona will finally return to their reconstructed Camp Nou stadium against Athletic Bilbao on November 22 in La Liga, the club said Monday, after more than two years in exile.
Since the stadium closed at the end of the 2022/23 season, the Catalan giants have been forced to play elsewhere, mainly at the Olympic Stadium on the city’s Montjuic hill.
A series of delays means Camp Nou is reopening a year after it was originally slated to, following a 1.5 billion euro ($1.75 billion) transformation beset by construction chaos.
Barcelona will open the stadium with a temporary capacity of 45,401 spectators, with space for 105,000 when the top tier is completed.
They opened the stadium up for 23,000 fans to watch a training session earlier in November as a test event in the reopening process.
Barcelona will host Eintracht Frankfurt at the Camp Nou in the Champions League on December 9.
The Spanish champions were forced to play two matches at their 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff training ground stadium in the first weeks of the season after failing to get the permit they needed for Camp Nou, because of safety reasons.
The previous iteration of Camp Nou was built in 1957 and had a capacity of 99,000.
Barcelona plan to add a roof to the stadium which will be installed in the summer of 2027, a year later than the project was anticipated to be completed.
