It's official: the return to Camp Nou has been delayed once again. The Blaugrana team will have to host Valencia this Sunday at the small Estadi Johan Cruyff, home of their reserve team, which had to be hastily adapted to meet the requirements of La Liga.

From the hope of return to a third league stadium

What is normally a third league pitch will become a La Liga stadium for a day. The Estadi Johan Cruyff, home of the second team and the women's team, was chosen for the Barca-Valencia game as the return to the Camp Nou proved impossible. The club believed until the last moment that it would receive the Certificate of End of Works and have all permits ready in time, but that didn't happen.

The decision comes just five days before the match, scheduled for Sunday September 14, which in itself generated a lot of controversy. Now the Blaugrana board will also have to deal with the reaction of the socios. Although it thanks them for their understanding and support, only around 6,000 will be able to watch the match from the stands, and that will not be to the liking of the tens of thousands of Culers who will be left out.

The news is a setback, but not the first, for the fans who were promised to return more than nine months ago, on November 29, 2024, for the club's 125th anniversary. That was only the first of Laporta's unfulfilled promises. Now it remains to be seen in which stadium Barca will play against Getafe (September 21) and where it will play the Champions League at.

© Wilnel José Verdú Guerrero | In the last few days Barcelona have been working against the clock to adapt the Johan Cruyff Stadium.