Barcelona to make special request to La Liga next season ahead of Camp Nou return | OneFootball

With just one more home match remaining until the end of the season, Barcelona’s journey at Montjuic appears to be finally over.

The Catalans will play their last game at Montjuic this weekend as they take on Villarreal. By the summer, the extension deal with the Barcelona City Council will be over and the club will expedite the plans to return to a revamped Spotify Camp Nou next season.

However, there is much work still to be done at Camp Nou, where the construction works are going on at full swing. Barça, therefore, might not return to the stadium until September.

Barcelona to make special request to La Liga

According to SPORT, Barcelona are preparing to make a special request to La Liga: they want to play their first three matches of the 2025/26 season away from home.

The idea is to use the extra time in early September – when the league will pause for the international break – to speed up the final phases of the stadium renovations.

Barcelona are itching to get back to the old stadium (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

If granted, Barça would aim to return to Camp Nou in matchday four of the league campaign, which is expected to fall around mid-September.

A staggered return

The report adds that Barcelona’s return to Camp Nou won’t be as straightforward. Even when they return to Camp Nou, the stadium won’t operate at full capacity.

In fact, the club plan a partial return with room for around 60,000 fans. The upper tier won’t be completed, the seating will be uncovered and some services like catering and permanent access points won’t be ready.

Barcelona are hopeful they can mend these issues as the season progresses. But since the stadium won’t be ready at least by September, the Catalans might have to find an alternative location for the Joan Gamper Trophy this summer.

There is an increasing possibility the Joan Gamper Trophy match could take place at Estadi Johan Cruyff, although Barcelona have not ruled out the possibility of hosting the game in Switzerland.