FC Barcelona have reportedly obtained the Certificate of End of Works, thus beginning the process of obtaining the necessary permits to return to the Camp Nou. However, it is not clear that the stadium will be ready for the Barça-Valencia game scheduled September 14, and the club is left with three options: Camp Nou, Estadi Montjuic or Estadi Montilivi.

The certificate, signed, and UEFA, persuaded

According to RAC1, on Monday Barça obtained the Certificate of End of Works, signed by the site management, the quantity surveyors and the construction company Limak. It is not clear whether the document has already been presented to the City Hall, but the radio station assures that on Tuesday officials will inspect the work. The visit will allow them to see for themselves whether the Tribuna and Gol Sur stands are really ready to accommodate around 27,000 fans, the capacity that Camp Nou will have until Lateral and, later, Gol Norte stands are ready as well.

However, this does not mean that the soap opera has come to an end. The certificate is just the first step in obtaining all the necessary permits, and Barcelona have to inform UEFA on Thursday 28 August in which stadium they will play the first Champions League stage. The European federation has reportedly given the green light for the Blaugrana to play the first game (16, 17 or 18 September) away, meaning the club will play the first Champions League home game on 30 September or 1 October.

© FC Barcelona | Barca have not played at Camp Nou since May 28, 2023, when they beat Mallorca 3-0.

Barça-Valencia, with 3 possible venues.

The problem is that La Liga authorities were not so understanding and refused to reverse the order of the fixtures against Valencia so that Barça could play on September 14 at Mestalla. And the club is not at all sure that the Camp Nou will be ready by then.

Although the club made a deal with City Council to have the possibility of playing at Montjuïc until February, Post Malone will play there on September 12, making it impossible to organise a match at the stadium just two days later. The insufficient capacity of Estadi Johan Cruyff (6,000 instead of the 8,000 requested by La Liga) also rules out this variant, and Barça are not even considering playing at the Camp Nou behind closed doors.

This leaves the club with 3 options for the first league game at home:

• have the Camp Nou ready for 14 September,
• ask Girona to play on Montilivi, as Michel's team then plays away,
• ask La Liga for the match to be played on Monday, September 15, to have enough time to prepare Montjuïc after the concert, and UEFA for the first match to be played on the 18th, so that the players have time to regenerate.