BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Despite construction cranes looming overhead and a gaping hole in the upper deck, Barcelona’s team and thousands of paying fans are finally back inside the Camp Nou for the first time in more than two years.
Over 20,000 Barcelona On Friday, supporters filled part of the modernized Camp Nou stadium to watch their team train.
It felt like a big game day for the fans, who cheered as Lamine Yamal and his teammates kicked the ball around on the bright green grass.
“I’ve been waiting for this for a long time so I’m very excited,” said Isabel Garcia, a 22-year-old student wearing a wine red and blue Barcelona shirt.
“Even if it’s not over, it’s great just to be here.”
Club president Joan Laporta called it a “historic day” and said he hoped to play a match at the stadium later this month. Barcelona last played at Camp Nou in May 2023.
“[This is]the most important project in the history of the club, the collective dream of the ‘Kur’, the Barça fans, and this is the dream that has come true,” Laporta said in English.
Laporta added that the return to Camp Nou will increase match-day sales and merchandise opportunities. He said the club was hoping to host a match in November with around 45,000 fans, but said there could be no guarantees. He did not give an estimate for when the stadium would be fully completed with a new capacity of 105,000 seats.
It was clear how much work remained to be done. The entire upper deck of the stadium appears to be largely skeletal, with no seats and scaffolding left in place in many areas.
Still, fans were pleased to see Barcelona move a step closer to returning to the stadium, which, thanks to its size, is as intimidating a place to play as any other ground in Europe.
Santiago Jimenez, 61, said he follows the progress of the Camp Nou every day via video stream. Seeing a construction site on a small screen is “nothing like being here,” he said.
“You can feel the sense of power this stadium gives to the team,” he said.
Barcelona announced that just over 21,000 fans paid to watch the training session. Tickets cost 5 euros (about $6) for club members and 10 euros (about $12) for the general public.
Renovation work at Camp Nou began in June 2023 to expand the capacity of Europe’s largest football venue, which previously held 99,000 people. A heavily indebted club was secured. 1.45 billion euros It raised funds ($1.6 billion at the time) from multiple investors to work on the renovation project.
Barcelona had originally planned to resume matches at the Camp Nou as early as November 2024 to coincide with the club’s 125th anniversary, but that deadline has been repeatedly postponed. The team has played in the city’s 55,000-seat Olympic Stadium since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Another postponement this summer meant the club had to scramble to host a Spanish league match in September at a 6,000-seat stadium on a training ground on the outskirts of the city.
Hansi Flick’s team were training at Celta Vigo ahead of Sunday’s La Liga match.
___
AP Soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
