FC Barcelona begins a key month of September for the reopening of the Spotify Camp Nou. The team will play its first home game in LaLiga against Valencia next Sunday, September 14, and subsequently, they will have to do so in the UEFA Champions League. However, the club does not yet have all the necessary licenses for the reopening of the Estadi.
According to the official calendar of the 2025/26 Champions League, Barça debuts at home in matchday 2 against Paris Saint-Germain. The match is scheduled for Wednesday, October 1, which leaves four weeks to get the culé temple ready. If the Camp Nou is not yet ready by that date, there would be a possibility of returning to the culé temple during the league phase.
UEFA Would Grant Special Permission to Barcelona with Spotify Camp Nou
According to 'RAC1' and the 'SER' radio station, UEFA is considering the possibility of granting special permission to the Blaugrana team to change stadiums during the 36-team league stage. Barça registered Spotify Camp Nou as their primary stadium last week before the draw in Monaco, but with Lluís Companys as an alternative.
According to UEFA regulations, each team must play the same phase of the tournament at a specific venue. That is, if Barcelona were to play the matchday 2 game against PSG at Montjuïc, they would have to do the same in the remaining three matches of the first phase as the home team.
Clubs can only request a change of stadium before the 'play-off' (repechage) of the round of 16, the knockout stage. However, in the case of clubs returning home after a long period of construction (more than two years, in Barça's case), the rule is more flexible.
Thus, the team led by Hansi Flick could play their first Champions League match at home in Montjuïc and, subsequently, either against Olympiacos (October 21) or against Eintracht Frankfurt (December 9), the culés could reopen the Camp Nou for the Champions League three years later.
The Blaugrana temple has not hosted Champions League matches since October 26, 2022 (against Bayern Munich). In the last two seasons, the team has been playing at home in Montjuïc, reaching the quarter-finals (23/24) and semi-finals (24/25).
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Barça Still Needs to Process the Final Construction Certificate and the First Occupancy License
UEFA was already flexible with Barça when structuring their calendar, allowing the Catalans to play the first matchday (against Newcastle) as visitors to give the club more margin with the management of the necessary permits to reopen the Estadi.
Beyond this, the culé board insists on only returning to Spotify Camp Nou if it is ready to host League and Champions League matches. Maintaining two open venues (including Montjuïc) implies a very complicated expense and logistics, even if this only happened for two or three months.
For the moment, the club has until Monday, September 8, to notify LaLiga where they will play matchday 3 against Valencia. As they have not yet submitted the Final Construction Certificate (CFO) to the Ajuntament of the Tribuna and the Gol Sur, areas enabled for the first matches (with a capacity of 27,000 spectators), it is very likely that the match against the 'ché' team will be played at the Johan Cruyff.
Only after obtaining the CFO, FC Barcelona will be able to process the first occupancy license. In mid-August, the inspection carried out by the Ajuntament detected more than 200 deficiencies in the work that must have already been fully resolved.
Even if this happens, the processing of the certificate may take several weeks, so it is very likely that the match against Getafe for matchday 5 (September 21) will be played in Montjuïc.
The good news is that the club already has the license from Barcelona Serveis Municipals (BSM) to play at Lluís Companys from mid-September to the end of February 2026. Will Barça be able to return to Spotify Camp Nou this month?
FC Barcelona's Home Matches in September 2025
- Sunday, September 14: FC Barcelona vs Valencia (LaLiga 25/26, matchday 4).
- September 20-21: FC Barcelona vs Getafe (LaLiga 25/26, matchday 5).
- September 27-28: FC Barcelona vs Real Sociedad (LaLiga 25/26, matchday 6).