The Camp Nou It is one of the football stadiums with the largest capacity in the world and this one Wednesday will not leave any empty seats to receive Inter. All tickets to watch the duel against the Italians are sold out. Barça fans will be a pressure cooker in a pivotal match for the blaugrana to continue with options to qualify for the Champions League knockout stage. The Camp Nou of the great occasions will meet again.
The 99,354 seats of the Blaugrana Colosseum are rarely occupied, but it is already a reality that this season the capacity of the Camp Nou has grown a lot compared to the last campaigns. Or because I know the capacity limits are over imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic, or why the illusion is back at Barça with the preparation of the new squad, the fan of the culé returns to fill a stadium that will soon be renovated, but which will go well on Wednesday, and certainly also this Sunday against Celta.
The rival does not count, the culé vibrate again on the pitch
Barça played four official matches at the Camp Nou this 2022/23 season, three from the league and one from the Champions League. In only one of them the appearances did not reach 80,000, and it was against Viktoria Pilsen, where 77,411 fans were present.
In the last duel against Elche, the Camp Nou welcomed 85,073 spectators. A very high figure, taking into account the rival and the moment of the season, but it shows that there is a evident growth. In the solidarity duel for ELA against Manchester City, the participation was 91,062 people.
These figures contrast a lot in the first matches of the 2018/19 season, the last one played in its entirety, without limits of capacity. The Blaugrana team, then coached by Ernesto Valverde, had just won the championship, but the turnout of the public at home games was lower than the current one. The game with the most appearances was the derby against Girona: 76,055 spectators, less than the worst participation in the Camp Nou this season. According to the club, the the increase in attendance compared to these two seasons is 19%.
A record of the Camp Nou before the works
Lately the Camp Nou is giving only good news. If men’s football matches are filling up again as in the golden days, this year it has also made history in women’s football. In the duel of champions against Real Madrid last year’s quarter-finals, the club recorded 91,553 spectators, an all-time record worldwidefigure increased in the next game, in the semifinals against Wolfsburg, with 91,648 participants. The club recently confirmed that the Barça women’s team will continue to play at the Camp Nou this season in European competitions.
All this happens when the Blaugrana Colosseum needs to be renovated. Already this September the south gate marker has been removed from the stadiumone of the first actions of the works that will force Barça to play Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium during the 2023-24 season.
