BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — More than 20,000 Barcelona fans filled a part of the modernized Camp Nou stadium on Friday to watch the team practice there for the first time since it was closed for a major facelift over two years ago.
Fans cheered as Lamine Yamal and teammates ran onto the field.
Club president Joan Laporta said this week he hopes to have games at the stadium later this month. Barcelona last played at Camp Nou in May 2023.
But it was also clear how much work is still left to be done before the new Camp Nou is entirely finished. The entire upper deck appears mostly a skeleton without any seats and massive cranes loomed overhead.
Outside, the buzz among the excited fans made it feel like it was a matchday. Inside, people wearing Barça shirts sang songs and chanted for the players who kicked balls around on the bright green grass.
Barcelona said it sold out the 23,000 tickets it had put on sale to witness the training session. They 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 from just under 100,000 to 105,000.
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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