Barcelona are set to play away from the Nou Camp for a season, after the club confirmed plans for their iconic stadium to undergo renovations starting in the summer.
The Nou Camp is one of the most recognisable and biggest stadia in football, with its 99,354 capacity making it the fourth largest in the sport.
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On Thursday the club announced that they will begin renovating their ground, which was originally opened in 1957, when the season comes to an end.
Whilst the work being done won't restrict them during the 2022/23 campaign, the club did confirm that they will have to move out for the following season, the 2023/24 campaign.
Instead they will play at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, that hosted the 1992 games in the city, for that season, before returning in the second half of 2024 to their usual home.
Work will continue in the 2024/25 season however, which will mean that the ground will only be at 50% capacity, resulting in the ground not returning to full capacity for two seasons.
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The Olympic Stadium can hold up to 60,713 fans, which will mean that the club are still getting a healthy number of fans through the door to cheer them on.
It was previously home to local rivals Espanyol from 1997-2009, having previously played at the Estadi de Sarria, where the club won the Copa del Rey twice and the UEFA Cup.
They moved out in 2009 to move to the newly constructed RCDE Stadium, which has left the Olympic Stadium empty since then.
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Confirming the plans for the Nou Camp, the club said in a statement, "The mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, and the president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta, appeared this morning in the Pressroom at Barcelona City Hall immediately after the City Council’s Governing Commission had approved the award of a permit to restructure the Camp Nou.
"...Renovation work on the Camp Nou, the epicentre of the Espai Barça project, will begin this June, as soon as the football season has ended, and in accordance with the building permit approved this morning.
Explaining why they won't move out of the Nou Camp this summer, and instead wait till next year, the statement went on to explain, "As President Joan Laporta said a few weeks ago, given the uncertainties generated by the war in Ukraine, especially with regard to the cost and availability of materials, a precautionary principle is to be observed in order to minimise risks and protect next season’s revenue, but with the least possible impact on the works schedule.
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"The demolition of the third tier will therefore go ahead in the summer of 2023, which will win time given the current uncertainty of prices, and will ensure that the Camp Nou can operate at virtually full capacity next season.
"Demolition any earlier would have meant having to play the 2022/23 season with just 50% of capacity."
The move out of the stadium is similar to the one that Real Madrid did last year, when they played at the Estadio Alfredo Di Stefano for the season.
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Liverpool were defeated at the ground, which is usually used by Real's B team, during the Champions League, leading to Jurgen Klopp complaining they didn't play at a 'proper stadium.'
Tottenham Hotspur also needed a temporary home when they knocked down White Hart Lane in order to build the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the same ground.
Ryan Sidle