Barcelona to return to Johan Cruyff stadium as Spotify Camp Nou loses capacity

Barcelona had already warned that the renovations at Camp Nou would cause inconvenience for club members and that patience would be required. One of the issues that has emerged and generated the most debate after the match against Newcastle concerns the front rows of the North Stand and their visibility problems.

Barça’s Director of Operations, Joan Sentelles, acknowledged on the Catalunya Ràdio programme Tot Costa that the club had already identified the issue. “The truth is, it was expected. The view of the stadium is perfect without this TV ‘U’, from the first row all the way to the top. We already had this problem at the old stadium,” he said, recalling that the previous Camp Nou also had affected areas, especially in the South Stand.

Sentelles ruled out lowering the pitch and explained that, until a solution is found, some seats will not be put on sale. He confirmed that these seats, which are fewer in La Liga than in the Champions League, will remain blocked: “We will have to find compromise solutions, which will not be immediate or quick, and we will block these seats to avoid selling them as we did in the last match. However, in a Women’s match, the U-shaped TV camera can be moved, and we will have more seats with a full view. That is the approach we have to take for now.

“Solutions? What they do in English stadiums: place all the photographers in pits in front of the U-shaped TV camera, and so on. But it will not happen immediately. We prefer to gradually control the capacity of the North Goal stand in the first tier, rows 1 to 5. There are about 300 to 350 seats affected by reduced visibility with the U-shaped TV camera in the Champions League, and around 150 to 200 in La Liga because we can move it further back, while always keeping the photographers behind.”

Barcelona’s Director of Operations also confirmed that the Johan Cruyff Stadium will be expanded to host matches when the team has to return there while the roof is installed at the Spotify Camp Nou.

The plan is to increase capacity to 16,000 spectators. Sentelles said it is a “relatively simple” project from a construction standpoint, as the main idea is to widen one of the sides and partially modify the North Stand to increase capacity.

Negotiations with the City Council to obtain the necessary permits are progressing well, and the goal is for the work to be completed by September 2027.

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