TA talks about Barcelona s return to Camp Nou: 100 million euros for selling 475 VIP seats is the key to the winter window and summer window

The Athletic reported that the Barcelona club issued a statement on Monday saying "we are going home." After 909 days of waiting, Barcelona will return to their iconic Camp Nou stadium on Saturday against Athletic Bilbao at home.

The Catalan team has not played at the legendary stadium since the €1.5 billion renovation project began two years ago. Club president Laporta said in an interview with RAC 1 radio on Tuesday: "Saturday's game will be a historic moment. It will be great to be able to go home."

The renovation of Camp Nou has been much slower and more complicated than the club and its fans expected. Even now, as the stadium reopens with a limited capacity of 45,000 (it will have a total capacity of 105,000 when completed), the story is far from over.

The Athletic looks at what Saturday's game means for Barcelona, ​​the work that still needs to be done and the questions that remain unanswered. How did things get to this point? In 2007, during his first term as club president, Laporta hired British architect Norman Foster to redesign the Camp Nou, but the plans never came to fruition. In April 2014, then-president Bartomeu proposed a project called "Espai Barca" aimed at modernizing the stadium and its surrounding areas, which had existed since 1957, and it was approved by the club's members, known as socios. But the project was shelved as the club faced serious financial problems. The project was not restarted until Laporta returned as chairman in early 2021.

Laporta and his new board decided to make major changes to Bartomeu's plan, which was approved by members in December 2021. In January 2023, Turkish construction company Limak was hired to take over the project. In April of the same year, it obtained initial financing of 1.478 billion euros through Goldman Sachs, and then the project was officially launched. Laporta said at the time that he hoped the team would return to Camp Nou in November 2024 on the occasion of the club's 125th anniversary. But this date soon became too optimistic, and the return was repeatedly postponed. In July last year, Barcelona announced that it would hold the traditional pre-season friendly match Gamper Cup at Camp Nou on August 10, but it failed to do so.

Barcelona Club has recognized that the old Camp Nou needs to be replaced by a new, more comfortable and modern stadium. Only 5% of the seats in the old stadium are divided into "VIP" areas, so the match day revenue is much lower than other top European stadiums.

The new design includes the addition of double-level VIP boxes between the second and third floors of the stadium, which is expected to bring additional revenue of approximately 120 million euros per year to the club. However, this also increases the complexity of construction. On November 7, 21,000 Barcelona fans (including the media) visited the new stadium in advance during a public training session. On Saturday, Flick and his team will prepare for the game in a new dressing room with a new look in the tunnel.

Why can’t Barcelona return sooner? Laporta and his board of directors decided to make major changes to Bartomeu's reconstruction plans and hired construction company Limak because the company promised a lower budget and shorter construction time. This is despite the company's only previous sports venue project being the 25,000-seat Mersin Arena in southern Türkiye. Over the past two and a half years, the project has encountered a number of obstacles, including all original architects, engineers and consultants leaving the project, rising material costs and reduced supplies, supplier bankruptcy and complaints from residents about noise and light pollution. Even in recent weeks, as the return date approaches, questions have continued to arise.

In early November, workers at the construction site protested over working conditions, including work shifts exceeding 12 hours. Construction company Limak also confirmed a case of tuberculosis but said it was an isolated incident, the person involved was receiving necessary treatment and all precautions were in place.

What are the racing conditions like on Saturday? FC Barcelona issued a statement on Monday saying that the club has obtained a use permit for Part B of the first phase of the project, which covers the lower stand on the east side of the stadium. Previously, Barcelona had obtained a license from Part A of the first phase, allowing the opening of the west side "rostrum" and the "south goal" lower stand, but because the license only allowed for about 27,000 fans, the club decided not to move back to Camp Nou at this time. The new license allows for 45,401 fans.

In September last year, the Barcelona city government publicly expressed concerns about the safety of the rebuilt stadium and prevented the issuance of the necessary permits. These concerns include "route to the pitch" issues. A statement from FC Barcelona said the new stadium features "improvements in terms of comfort and safety: more entrances, evacuation routes and handrails". Under the terms of the 1B permit, visiting fans are currently unable to officially enter the stadium as the required isolation and protection measures are not yet in place. Saturday's visiting team Athletic Bilbao informed its fans on Tuesday morning. Who will be playing in Saturday's game and how much will the tickets cost? Last month, Barcelona launched the 2025-26 Season Pass, guaranteeing fans access to all matches at the Luis Comanis and Camp Nou.

Barcelona Club announced that approximately 21,000 fans purchased season tickets. Tickets for a single game range from 20 to 52 euros depending on seat location, making them very affordable. Other fans, including Barcelona members who have not purchased a season ticket, must purchase separate tickets for each home game. Around 16,000 general tickets for Saturday's match against Athletic Bilbao were on sale on the club's website, with prices ranging from €199 to over €500, immediately causing dissatisfaction among fans (although club members receive a 20% discount).

Some 8,000 tickets for Saturday's match are classified as VIP tickets, with tickets in the players' area costing 1,050 euros per seat, while "exclusive experience" tickets in the VIP lounge in the chairman's box cost up to 1,500 euros per seat..

Laporta said in an interview with RAC1 on Tuesday: "As we increase capacity, we will adjust the prices. This is a special moment. We have considered the situation and think these are the prices we should set. Our season ticket prices are the best in Europe."

Regarding the Champions League, UEFA stipulates that starting from the group stage, clubs must in principle play all home games in the same stadium. But the wording allows for some flexibility and UEFA is sympathetic to Barcelona's unique situation. The club hopes to return to Camp Nou for its next game against Eintracht Frankfurt on December 9. Barcelona and UEFA will discuss the matter further, with UEFA regulations also requiring visiting fans to receive 5% of the ticket price for each game.

Laporta told RAC1: "We will get a decision from UEFA soon. We hope the result will be positive. We are preparing everything to meet their standards. In La Liga, we cannot have separate areas for visiting fans, but this is a requirement of UEFA. I am optimistic about it."

When will Camp Nou return to full capacity? When Limak was hired in January 2023, the revamped Camp Nou was expected to be completed by June 2026. Recently, Barcelona mentioned the summer of 2027 as a target, but since the third level of the new stadium is still in the early stages of construction, no one can accurately predict when the full capacity of 105,000 people will be reached.

The plan is to complete the roof installation of the stadium after the stadium returns to full capacity, which is expected to be completed as early as the summer of 2028. The club's next short-term goal is to obtain a "1C license" from the city, which will allow fans into the stands behind the north goal, bringing the permitted capacity to 62,500. Laporta told RAC1 on Tuesday: "Let's see if we can get to 62,000 by the end of the year."

What does Saturday mean for Barcelona? Laporta and his management will celebrate their return to Camp Nou and the fans in attendance will be delighted to be back at home. Saturday will be a special day for many Barcelona players, with financial reasons also making this return important. Barcelona need to start earning more money from home games.

The Athletic recently detailed the nuances of the club's financial situation. At its annual general meeting last month, the club proposed a budget of €1.075 billion for 2025-26. The budget includes projected stadium revenue of €226 million, €51 million more than last season at Montjuïc. To reach these figures, Camp Nou's capacity must be increased to over 62,500. Attracting fans back to the stadium will also generate additional revenue for Barcelona's club shop and museum.

Barcelona still faces La Liga salary limit restrictions and is unable to operate normally in the transfer market. Laporta has repeatedly said that the 100 million euros from the future revenue from the sale of the 475 VIP seats in the new stadium is the key to transfers this winter and next summer. In addition, the club will also hold presidential elections from March 15 to June 15 next year. Monday's announcement came just hours after potential rivals, including Catalan fintech entrepreneur Victor Font, held a public event. Fonte lost the 2021 election to Laporta.

Dissatisfaction with Camp Nou's return will be one of the issues Laporta's challengers hope to exploit. Messi's secret visit to Camp Nou last week and former midfielder and coach Xavi's attendance at Monday's event sparked much discussion, with club commentators speculating on a link between the events and the election. So, even though Barcelona have returned to Camp Nou, the controversy surrounding the stadium looks set to continue.