Barcelona potentially face another major Camp Nou setback because of an upcoming UEFA ‘deadline’ regarding the Champions League.
Barcelona have been playing games away from the iconic stadium since 2023 because of the major renovation project that remains ongoing. Full completion is still a way off, but the club wanted to re-open with a reduced capacity this season, after two years at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys.
Recent plans to host this summer’s Joan Gamper Trophy at Camp Nou failed, unable to secure the necessary approval from the city council—the Aug. 10 match against Como instead had to be staged at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, with its small capacity of just 6,000.
La Liga have accepted Barcelona’s request to play each of the first three matches this season—Mallorca, Levante, Rayo Vallecano—on the road. The end of August brings a pause for the first international break of 2025–26, after which there is no further game until Sep. 14.
That date is when Barcelona hope to have permission to move back into Camp Nou, but there is also a different stadium problem to contend with.
There are no guarantees it will happen then, and UEFA needs to know by Aug. 28 where Barcelona will be hosting their Champions League league phase fixtures, of which there will be four. MARCA highlights that regulations will not allow Barcelona to switch home stadium midway through a round. If the Catalans don’t play their opening league phase match at Camp Nou, they cannot play there in the Champions League until the knockout phase begins in the second half of the season.
Barcelona are thought to be confident of securing the required city council license by Sep. 14, having cut plans to host 60,000 people in half so that only the Gol Sud and Tribuna levels in the main stand need to be complete and signed off from a safety standpoint.
But the UEFA ‘deadline’ falls two weeks earlier than the first La Liga match intended to be at Camp Nou and is in just 13 days’ time from now. If they cannot commit to Camp Nou by then, Barça face having to play the entire league phase at the Johan Cruyff, which would be disastrous for revenues and future budgets due to the limited number of fans who can attend.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Face Imminent ‘Deadline’ Over Camp Nou Return.
