More Camp Nou delays! Barcelona won't return home until 2025-26 campaign as £1.25 billion stadium renovations continue to fall behind schedule

Barcelona look set to complete a second full season at their temporary home due to Camp Nou not being ready on time to move back in any sooner. The club is reported by The Athletic to have informed its members by email that all remaining home fixtures will be played at the Montjuic venue, which served as the focal point of the 1992 Olympics, the fourth time in recent months that a return to Camp Nou has been pushed back.

Even with the renovation project not scheduled to be fully finished until 2026, Barcelona had hoped to be back playing games at Camp Nou this season, albeit at reduced capacity. The idea for the return to coincide with the club's 125th anniversary in November was canned. Further delays then came in November and January, with the latter still targeting a May return to Camp Nou. Now, however, the dream of playing football there at all this season is officially over. Leaked footage of the project in recent days appeared to show the work falling way behind schedule.

The longer that Barcelona stay at the Lluis Companys, the more they financially lose out. It's not much more than half the size of Camp Nou and, with the majority of season ticket holders also staying away until Camp Nou is ready, matchday revenue is taking a hit. Last season, the estimates were that it cost the club €90m (£75.6m/$97.9m) in income they would otherwise have made.

It would be a hugely embarrassing blow if Barcelona still cannot return to Camp for the start of next season, after so many pushbacks in quick succession of late, with the club overpromising and underdelivering. Real Madrid, on the other hand, had a seamless renovation of the Santiago Bernabeu, although there was coincidentally a full season played at the Alfredo Di Stefano due to Covid-19 restrictions on crowds and public gatherings, which left the Bernabeu empty for an extended period.