Barcelona will not be playing their first home game in the Champions League at Camp Nou. That much has been confirmed by UEFA, but there are doubts about whether their return is imminent.

The Blaugrana have been trying desperately to complete sufficient work on Spotify Camp Nou to return to their home ground in partial form, with a 27,000 capacity. However they are still waiting on a completion of work certificate from construction group Limak, and must then apply for a licence from the Barcelona City Council to reopen the ground.

UEFA announce Montjuic as venue for Paris Saint-Germain

Paris Saint-Germain are the visitors for Barcelona’s first home game in the Champions League on the first of October, but that game will be taking place at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, as announced by UEFA. Barcelona played their first home league game against Valencia on Sunday at their training ground in the 6,000-seater Estadi Johan Cruyff, and are set to return there for their game with Getafe this Sunday.

As per MD, Barcelona are now in the process of re-installing the pitch, with the stage from last weekend’s Post Malone concert now fully retired. They say that the club are still confident of heading back to Camp Nou on the 28th of September for Barcelona’s third home game of the season.

Lamine Yamal spent nearly four hours at Ciutat Esportiva this Thursday, working intensively with physiotherapists to speed up his recovery. @monfortcarlos

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 18, 2025

Concerns that Camp Nou return may be pushed back months

However there are concerns that their return to Montjuic may be more permanent than first thought. Barcelona have agreed the use of Montjuic with the Council until February, but Joan Fontes first reported that a Camp Nou return may not occur until 2026 back in February this year.

💥1.- El Barcelona ha iniciado el proceso de retorno a Montjuïc para jugar en el Olímpic hasta finales de Enero debida la situación de las obras del Camp Nou. El CFO se demora y algunas instalaciones de servicio como por ejemplo, los bares se están adecuando para ser operativos…

— Dongcast (@JoanFontes) September 18, 2025

Fontes has now doubled down on this information, noting that the reason for the delays, which may keep Barcelona from Camp Nou until the end of January, is due to the fact Barcelona have had to seek more help from other constructors that are not Limak.

The supposition is that Barcelona continue to string along the public over dates due to a series of impending financial commitments to investors, some of which hinges on a return to their stadium.