Barcelona trains at Camp Nou for first time in over 2 years as stadium remodeling continues

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Construction cranes loomed overhead and there were gaping holes in the upper tier but Barcelona’s team and several thousand paying fans were finally back inside Camp Nou for the first time in over two years.

More than 20,000 Barcelona supporters filled part of the modernized Camp Nou stadium on Friday to watch the team practice there.

It was like a big matchday for the fans, who cheered as Lamine Yamal and teammates kicked balls around on the bright green grass.

“We are super excited because we have been waiting for this for so long,” said Isabel García, a 22-year-old student wearing a burgundy-and-blue Barcelona shirt.

“It is great to just be here, even if it is not finished.”

Club president Joan Laporta called it a “historic day” and said that he hopes to have games at the stadium later this month. Barcelona last played at Camp Nou in May 2023.

“(This) is the most important project in the history of the club, it is the collective dream of the ‘cules,’ or Barça fans, and this is a dream that has come true,” Laporta said in English.

Laporta added that the return to Camp Nou would boost matchday sales and merchandising opportunities. He said that the club hopes — but could not guarantee — to hold a game with some 45,000 fans in November. He gave no estimate on when the stadium will be completely finished with a new capacity of 105,000 seats.

It was clear how much work is still to be done. The stadium's entire upper deck appears mostly a skeleton without any seats and scaffolding remains in place in many parts.

Still, fans were happy to be one step nearer to Barcelona returning to a stadium that thanks to its size is as intimidating a place to play as any ground in Europe.

Santiago Jiménez, 61, said he has followed the progress of Camp Nou via a video stream each day. He said watching the construction on a tiny screen was “nothing like being here.”

“You can feel the sense of power this stadium gives to the team,” he said.

Barcelona said just over 21,000 fans had paid to witness the training session. The tickets cost 5 euros ($6) for club members and 10 euros ($12) for the general public.

Work began on upgrading Camp Nou in June 2023 to expand capacity in Europe’s largest soccer venue that previously stood at 99,000. The highly indebted club secured 1.45 billion euros (then $1.6 billion) from multiple investors to undertake the remodeling project.

Barcelona had originally planned to be back playing games at Camp Nou as early as November 2024 to coincide with the club’s 125th anniversary, but that deadline has been repeatedly pushed back. The team has played at the municipally owned 55,000-seat Olympic Stadium since the start of the 2023-24 season.

Another delay this summer led to the club having to scramble and hold a Spanish league game at its 6,000-seat stadium located on its training grounds on the outskirts of the city in September.

Hansi Flick’s side was practicing for Sunday’s La Liga game at Celta Vigo.

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