Spain: Camp Nou now has (another) pitch... and serious problems ahead

04.08.2025 16:11 source: StadiumDB.com; author: Miguel Ciołczyk Garcia

The turf is in place, the work is progressing, but there is still concern in Barcelona. With just a month and a half to go before the start of the Champions League phase and the first home league game, the Blaugrana team has neither a guarantee of returning to the Camp Nou, nor a replacement venue.

A pitch without a debut date

The workers finished laying the second turf of the new Camp Nou on Friday. The second, because the first, installed at the end of April, was only a marketing tool to make the return to the legendary stadium seem closer. Now, however, the final pitch is in place, and it has a month and a half to take root before its debut.

That is, in the event that the most optimistic of scenarios materialises. Although work is progressing 24 hours a day and, as El Español reports, the workers have already begun to separate Grada d'Animació from other sectors in Gol Sud, with each passing day the return for September 14 (La Liga) and September 16, 17 or 18 (Champions League) seems more difficult.

Club president Joan Laporta has asked to play the first Champions League game away, but it is unclear whether UEFA will agree. The federation demands that all league phase home games be played at the same venue, so Barcelona have only two possibilities: to return to the Camp Nou in time or to find a temporary venue until January, at least for the European competition.

No clear plan B

The issue of the temporary stadium is a very delicate one for the Blaugrana board. Although the club promised not to return to Montjuïc, the alternatives are much worse. Playing at the reserves’ Estadi Johan Cruyff, with barely 6,000 seats, or at RCDE Stadium, home to Barça's eternal rival, Espanyol, do not seem to be realistic options.

It is possible that in the end the club will opt for what it tried to do, albeit unsuccessfully, with the Joan Gamper Trophy - to return to Camp Nou but without reaching the 60,000 seats they promised. Either way, Barcelona is in a very difficult situation and the next days will be key to finding out which scenario will be chosen by Laporta.