BARCELONA: Barcelona’s next Champions League match at home will be at the renovated Camp Nou stadium with partial capacity.
The club said Wednesday they will host Eintracht Frankfurt at the venue on Dec. 9 in the league phase of the European competition. About 45,000 tickets are expected to be available.
Barcelona said UEFA accepted the team’s request to return to the Camp Nou, “considering that all necessary requirements have been met.”
The club needed an exemption from European soccer’s governing body as regulations state that teams must use the same stadium for all four home games in the league phase.
“Barcelona are pleased to be able to compete again at their stadium and to continue advancing in the comprehensive transformation project of the new Spotify Camp Nou,” the club said.
On Monday, Barcelona announced their Spanish league game against Athletic Bilbao, on Saturday, will be their first at the Camp Nou since they began upgrading the stadium in June 2023 to expand capacity in Europe’s largest soccer venue from 99,000 to 105,000.
Only 45,401 fans will be allowed in against Athletic.
More than 20,000 fans paid to watch the team practice at the Camp Nou on Nov. 7.
The highly indebted club secured 1.45 billion euros (then $1.6 billion) from multiple investors to undertake the project.
Barcelona had originally planned to be back playing at the venue as early as November 2024 to coincide with the club’s 125th anniversary. The team have played at the municipally owned 55,000-seat Olympic Stadium since the start of the 2023-24 season.
Another delay this summer led to the club scrambling to hold a Spanish league game at the 6,000-seat stadium located on their training grounds on the outskirts of the city in September.
UEFA approves Barcelona’s Camp Nou return for Champions League game against Frankfurt
https://arab.news/nnvr9
UEFA approves Barcelona’s Camp Nou return for Champions League game against Frankfurt
- The club said Wednesday they will host Eintracht Frankfurt at the venue on Dec. 9
- The club needed an exemption from European soccer’s governing body
Colombia’s Rodriguez signs for Minnesota on short-term deal
- Rodriguez will occupy an international squad spot pending a medical and receipt of his visa.
- “We’re excited to add his creativity and football intelligence to our group,” El-Ahmad said
MINNESOTA: Colombia captain James Rodriguez signed for Minnesota United on Friday, marking his seventh club since leaving Real Madrid in 2020 as the former World Cup Golden Boot winner continues his globe-trotting career.
The Major League Soccer club announced that the 34-year-old midfielder has signed a guaranteed contract through June 2026, with a club option to extend until December 2026.
Rodriguez will occupy an international squad spot pending a medical and receipt of his visa.
“James is a player whose quality, vision, and experience at the highest levels of the game are unquestioned. We’re excited to add his creativity and football intelligence to our group,” the club’s sporting director Khaled El-Ahmad said in a statement.
“At the same time, this move is about collective strength — not about putting everything on one individual.”
Rodriguez, who won the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup in a breakthrough tournament that earned him a move to Real Madrid, has become something of a footballing nomad in recent years.
Since the 2019-20 campaign, the playmaker has plied his trade across continents for Everton, Al-Rayyan, Olympiacos, Sao Paulo, Rayo Vallecano and Leon before landing in Minnesota.
“I’m very happy for this new chapter in my life. I hope to be at my best so I can bring joy to this city and to all of the people who are putting their faith in me,” Rodriguez said.
“I’m looking forward to meeting all of the passionate Minnesota fans because I’m also a passionate player who wants to give everything on the field and always wants to win.”
Rodriguez will get his first chance to impress when the new MLS season kicks off on February 21, with Minnesota taking on Austin.
