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Barcelona are set to leave their iconic Camp Nou stadium for two years and return only after the 2023-24 season as it is going to undergo a major renovation. The Blaugrana will play at the Montjuic Stadium next season. The renovation is already underway as the first brick was buried as a symbolic gesture by the president of FC Barcelona, Joan Laporta.
The club held an event for laying the first stone of the new stadium with all the important parties in attendance. On the first stone placed behind the Gol Sud goal, Juan Manuel Asensi, president of the FC Barcelona Players' Association, placed the day's newspapers. Captain Sergio Busquets, coach Xavi Hernandez and women’s team legend Melanie Serrano were in attendance and played their part in the ceremony of the burial of the time capsule.
Xavi put in a Barça shirt from the current season, Busquets added the captain's armband and Melanie a ball. Along with these representatives from the youth setup Jana Muro (Infantil A) and Guiu Xuclà (Infantil B), added football boots.
Laporta placed a Catalan flag inside followed by a club flag, After the ceremony the president assured the fans that the new stadium will be better and live up to the iconic Cam Nou as he said, "Spotify Camp Nou is already the past, full of memories, feelings, glorious moments, and unforgettable afternoons and nights. The most important thing is that, from now on, the new Spotify Camp Nou will be the future. It will live up to our history."
The stadium will be able to host 105,000 fans after the rebuild which will drive up the match-day earnings for the clubs. Barcelona already have the highest average attendance in Europe and it will only increase after the rebuild. Barcelona ended their season with a comfortable 3-0 win over Mallorca and go into the summer with the view of building on the 2022-23 season.