Barcelona have announced that their opening home game of the season against Valencia will not be played at the Camp Nou, just five days before the match was due to take place. The club had been granted permission to play their first three fixtures away from home to complete the initial phase of stadium construction, but they were unable to obtain the necessary permits in time, missing a public deadline for the third time.
The match against Valencia will now be played at the 6,000-seat Johan Cruyff Stadium at Barcelona's Sant Joan Despí training ground. Barcelona did not specify when they expect to return to the Camp Nou, with upcoming home games against Getafe on 21 September and Real Sociedad on 28 September, as well as a Champions League fixture against Paris Saint-Germain on 1 October.
Inspectors from local and football authorities have visited the site repeatedly, including on Tuesday, but the club has not yet received the certificate of completed work required for formal permission to occupy the stadium. Barcelona cannot open the new Camp Nou to the public, even with part of the main stand and the south end operational and an initial capacity of 27,000.
A contingency agreement with the city council allows Barcelona to use the Olympic Stadium at Montjuic until February, but a Post Malone concert there on Friday night prevented its use this weekend. Barcelona released a short statement on Tuesday evening saying they are 'working intensely' to obtain the permits and thanked supporters for their patience, but offered no further details.
The club's last game at the old Camp Nou was in May 2023, with refurbishment work beginning immediately afterwards. The initial plan to play at the refurbished stadium in November 2024 has been repeatedly delayed, with missed deadlines in December, the new year, spring, and August. La Liga has granted an exception to the rule requiring stadiums to have a capacity of at least 15,000 for the match at Johan Cruyff Stadium.
