Fact or fiction? Lamine Yamal was 11 the last time Spotify Camp Nou hosted a “normal” Champions League knockout game

Barcelona host Newcastle United in the Champions League round of 16 on Wednesday, a game that comes a little under seven years since the start of one of the most traumatic chapters in the club’s recent history. It also happens to be the last “normal” UCL knockout matchup at Spotify Camp Nou.

That second statement probably feels like it should be incorrect, but it’s not. Let’s dive in.

The night everything changed

When Barcelona recorded a resounding 3-0 home win over Liverpool in the first leg of the 2018-19 semifinals on May 1, 2019, with Lionel Messi netting twice, it seemed they had a foot and a half in the final. Waiting there would have been Tottenham Hotspur at Atlético Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano.

It felt like a golden chance to win a sixth European Cup, something they are still waiting for.

A shocking 4-0 defeat in the return leg at Anfield put paid to those dreams. In financial turmoil, Barça were never the same for several years afterward. Messi did the unthinkable and left for PSG, while the team went three seasons without a league title for the first time since the early 2000s.

Barcelona: From collapse to chaos

The decline also affected the Champions League, but it wasn’t only Barcelona who were in trouble. We all were.

The covid-19 pandemic first gripped the world in March 2020, just as Barça were due to host Napoli in the second leg of the round of 16 in the 2019-20 Champions League. With soccer off the table for several months as the world tried to figure out how to survive, the game was pushed back to August and played behind closed doors in unusual circumstances.

Barcelona got past the Italians but the competition then exceptionally moved to Portugal, where the Catalans were memorably thrashed 8-2 by Bayern Munich in a single-leg quarterfinal in Lisbon.

Barcelona’s slump hit its lowest point in the following two seasons, when they failed to make it out of the group stage and dropped into the Europa League knockout rounds.

Barça’s long road back

By 2023-24, they had begun to get their act together and reached the Champions League quarterfinals. However, renovation work on Spotify Camp Nou had already started, forcing them to play at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

That remained the case last season, when they made it as far as the semifinals.

Full circle at Camp Nou

So against Newcastle on Wednesday, Barcelona will play a Champions League knockout game at Spotify Camp Nou in front of fans - an estimated 60,000 - for the first time in almost seven years.

The last time they did that, Lamine Yamal was 11 years old, two months short of his 12th birthday.

Get closer to the game! Whether you like your soccer of the European variety or that on this side of the pond, our AS USA app has it all. Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more. Plus, stay updated on NFL, NBA and all other big sports stories as well as the latest in current affairs and entertainment. Download now for all-access coverage, right at your fingertips – anytime, anywhere.

And there’s more: check out our TikTok and Instagram reels for bite-sized visual takes on all the biggest soccer news and insights.