The shutters came down on Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday as Spanish champions Barcelona beat Mallorca 3-0 in the penultimate LaLiga game of the season (stream the replay on ESPN+). The stadium that has been the home of Johan Cruyff, Diego Maradona, Ronaldinho, Lionel Messi and many other legends of the game will be redeveloped over the next 18 months following years of decay. Barca president Joan Laporta says once the revamp is finished, the Catalan club will have “the best ground in the world.”
– Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)
Over 88,000 fans were present to bid farewell to the ageing stadium, which originally opened in 1957. Barca commemorated the occasion with a video of some of the venue’s most historic moments — with Messi’s showreel enticing fans to bellow his name around Camp Nou in the hope of seeing him back at the club next season — before signing off with a pitch display, dance routines, live music, confetti and fireworks.
The renovation work actually started during the midseason break for the 2022 World Cup. A large section of a stand behind one of the goals was removed, reducing the capacity in the second half of the season from 99,000 to 94,000. Now, with the campaign ending, the much-needed modernisation of the stadium will be set in motion.
