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Barcelona to host upcoming Champions League tie at Camp Nou

Barcelona said on Wednesday they will play their Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt at the Spotify Camp Nou.

The Catalan giants are finally returning to their home ground this Saturday for a LaLiga clash with Athletic Bilbao after more than two years away.

And the club said on Wednesday that European football can resume at the famous ground when they face Frankfurt on Dec. 9 after they obtained the necessary license for an increased capacity.

The match against Bilbao will take place in front of a crowd of only 45,401, with renovations not yet complete.

Work began in the summer of 2023 to modernise the stadium and increase the capacity to 105,000, and the original plan was for Barcelona to be back playing matches there last November.

But a series of delays have pushed their return back, with Barca playing most of their games at the city's Estadi Olimpic.

A statement on fcbarcelona.com read: "FC Barcelona is pleased to be able to compete again at its stadium and to continue advancing in the comprehensive transformation project of the new Spotify Camp Nou."

Barça first received a permit to re-open the stadium in October, but the limit placed on the capacity at that time was 25,991, which the club did not feel was high enough to justify an immediate return financially.

They subsequently held a test event at Camp Nou earlier in November, with just under 23,000 fans attending an open training session which president Joan Laporta classified as a success.