Barcelona to play La Liga games at 6,000-seater training ground with Camp Nou not ready yet

Barcelona's La Liga home match against Valencia will be held at the 6,000-capacity Johan Cruyff Stadium due to Camp Nou renovation delays. La Liga granted special permission, waiving minimum capacity rules. Initial plans for a reduced-capacity Camp Nou and the Olympic Stadium fell through, leading to this temporary solution for the Spanish champions.

Barcelona will not play their home games at Camp Nou as the redevelopment work continues. The project completion has been delayed many times. (Getty Images)

Barcelona will play their first home La Liga match of the season at their training ground's Johan Cruyff Stadium, which holds only 6,000 fans, after delays in Camp Nou renovations left them without their traditional home venue. The Spanish champions announced on Tuesday that they will host Valencia on Sunday at the small stadium located in Sant Joan Despi on Barcelona's outskirts, having received special permission from La Liga to use a venue that falls below the league's minimum capacity requirements. The club's iconic Camp Nou stadium renovation project has fallen nine months behind schedule, forcing Barcelona to seek alternative venues for their home games. La Liga had to grant Barcelona an exemption from rules that require first-division clubs to have stadiums with at least 15,000 seats. League officials spent the past week conducting inspections at the Johan Cruyff Stadium and mandating necessary modifications, including the installation of VAR camera systems to meet competition standards. Barcelona had initially hoped to use a reduced-capacity Camp Nou that would accommodate 27,000 spectators, but failed to secure the required permits from the Barcelona City Council. The club also considered using the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium (Estadi de Montjuïc), where they had been playing their home games in recent seasons. However, this option was ruled out after the pitch was damaged during a Post Malone concert. "The Club is working intensively to obtain the necessary administrative permits for the opening of the Spotify Camp Nou stadium in the near future. Therefore, the match will ultimately be played at the Estadi Johan Cruyff," Barcelona stated in their official announcement. The club added: "FC Barcelona thanks its members and fans for their understanding and support during the complex yet exciting process of returning to the new Spotify Camp Nou. The Club will soon provide information on all details regarding match organisation and ticketing." The situation has left Barcelona, who won La Liga last season and showed strong performance in the Champions League, without a permanent home venue as the new season progresses. The Johan Cruyff Stadium, which normally hosts Barcelona's women's team and youth matches, will now temporarily serve as the venue for one of the world's biggest football clubs.

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