How Has Barcelona Performed Each Time They Opened a New Stadium?

FC Barcelona is preparing to return to Spotify Camp Nou today to face Athletic Bilbao in a match that marks the stadium's reopening after more than two years of playing at the Montjuïc stadium, according to the Spanish newspaper "Sport." The team aims to secure three points that could temporarily place them at the top of the Spanish league.

Throughout its history, the Catalan club has inaugurated several stadiums with varying results, as not all opening matches were positive.

Barcelona began its journey at the Velodrome de la Bonanova stadium in 1899, losing its first match there 1-0 to a team from the English community. Then it moved to the Casanovas Hotel stadium between 1900 and 1901, where its first match ended in a 0-0 draw against Hispania.

The first win in an opening match at Camp de la Indústria came with a 4-0 victory over Caliop team, with Joan Gamper scoring the first goal. However, luck was not on their side during the opening of the Carrer Montaner stadium, where the team lost 3-2 to Club Català.

As for the Industrial Street Stadium, it witnessed another opening draw that ended 2-2 against Català, a stadium associated with the emergence of the club's title. Then came Les Corts Stadium, which Barcelona inaugurated with a 2-1 victory over St Mirren, before it became insufficient for the club's ambitions as their sports facilities expanded.

In 1957, Camp Nou was inaugurated for the first time with an impressive 4-2 victory over Legia Warsaw. Today, Barcelona is preparing to reopen its renovated version with a temporary seating capacity of 45,000 spectators.

The team had previously played at Montjuïc during the 1990/1991 season in the Joan Gamper Trophy, winning 2-0 against Spartak Moscow and then 3-1 against Anderlecht. In their most recent return to the same stadium due to renovation work, the first match was against Cádiz, ending with a 2-0 victory for Barcelona.

The situation was no different at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, where the team played its first match without spectators on September 12, 2020, winning 3-1 against Nàstic de Tarragona. Later that season, they achieved a significant 6-0 victory over Valencia in their first home encounter.

With this long legacy of various openings, Barcelona enters today's match hopeful to write a new chapter in its history with a return to Spotify Camp Nou in its new look.