Limak sets a date for Barça's return to the Spotify Camp Nou!

The construction company of the Spotify Camp Nou, Limak, is confident in having the culé temple ready for its formal reopening in September, on Saturday the 13th or Sunday the 14th for the fourth matchday of LaLiga against Valencia.

Beyond the disappointment that meant the cancellation of the Joan Gamper Trophy, scheduled for Sunday, August 10 in Les Corts, the Turkish company plans to receive the necessary permits in mid-August to reopen the Estadi with a partial capacity.

In this regard, the Catalan professor and researcher Julià Bretos revealed Limak's plan to carry out a preliminary test at the end of August with the Spotify Camp Nou.

The reopening of the Spotify Camp Nou is postponed to the end of August

According to Bretos, the idea is to hold a match between August 25 and 27 (friendly) as a test to reopen the Estadi, fulfilling the plan initially planned with the Gamper.

What does this mean? That the first occupancy license will arrive in time for the start of the season, both in La Liga and in the Champions League. The European debut may take place in mid (16-17-18) or late (30) September, according to the league phase calendar designed by UEFA after the draw on August 29.

Barça will play the second matchday of La Liga on Saturday the 23rd of that month against Levante in Valencia, which would be a match in which Hansi Flick would take the opportunity to give his substitutes playing time.

The Gamper, meanwhile, still has no official date, venue or opponent, but the most likely scenario is that the match will be played against Como from Italy at the Estadi Johan Cruyff a week before the league debut (on Saturday, August 16 at Son Moix, against Mallorca).

The new delay in the reopening of the Estadi has generated uncertainty among the fans and the Catalan press, even speculating with a new return to Montjuïc for the first half of 25/26. However, the construction company Limak is optimistic regarding the necessary deadlines to return to Les Corts this summer.

The delays in the Spotify Camp Nou: who is to blame?

On the other hand, Julià Bretos explained the reasons and those responsible for the delays in the reconstruction of the Spotify Camp Nou. Beyond the unfulfilled promises, the board "has been poorly advised" when making announcements related to the return to the work.

There has also been speculation about the club's annoyance with the City Council for the rigor in granting licenses. However, the responsibility clearly lies with Limak, since the construction company has failed to meet the established deadlines.

"The countdown was not to have 60,000 seats available, it was to be able to reopen the Estadi with that capacity," he explains. Beyond being one of the best construction companies in the world, they have clearly made many mistakes in their first major project outside of Turkey.

Not surprisingly, one of Limak's technicians admitted to Bretos that the hired staff was not qualified enough, although they received the minimum wage established by law.

"Around 500-600 of the 3,000 hired workers were slacking off; there has been a lack of control over the staff and that has generated many delays, even despite enabling night shifts," says the source consulted by Bretos.

Limak admits the mistakes and hopes to compensate Barça

In that sense, the choice of Limak was correct at the time, but the execution of the work has depended "on hiring at price", that is, the main failure of the project lies in the "project management". The indicated personnel has not been designated and those in charge of supervising the work have not done their job correctly either.

Related

Barça forgives Limak a millionaire compensation for the delays in the Camp Nou

Despite the delays, the compensations will not be collected. This happens with Espai Barça and thousands of projects in the world. Of course, although the million euros per day of delay set as a penalty is not collected, it is likely that Limak will reduce the total cost of the work or, finally, compensate the club with months of maintenance on the work.

The reconstruction of the Spotify Camp Nou began in the summer of 2023. The club hoped to return to Les Corts in November 2024 to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the club, or, failing that, in early 2025 to play the final stretch of the season at home.

Finally, none of these deadlines were met. Will Limak be able to have the culé temple ready for the start of 25/26? No one doubts the scale and quality of the project, but clearly its execution has left much to be desired.

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