Barcelona made their return to the Camp Nou earlier this month, when they faced Athletic Bilbao on Saturday, 22 November in front of 45,157 supporters.
That day went without any notable hitches, but the same can't be said about their second match at their revamped home, which took place this weekend.
Thousands of Barcelona fans struggle to get into the Camp Nou
On Saturday, 29 November, Barcelona took on Alaves at the Camp Nou in what was meant to be another day of celebration in front of 45,000 supporters.
However, before the action could get underway on the pitch, thousands of Barcelona fans were left stranded outside the Camp Nou due to an issue with the club's digital ticket system.
While the majority of supporters ended up getting into the stadium at some point during the match, the scenes outside the Camp Nou for much of the day were those of long lines and annoyed Catalonians.
To resolve the situation, club officials were instructed to send affected supporters PDF versions of their tickets, which did ultimately alleviate the problem for the majority of Barcelona fans.
However, 300 Barcelona fans failed to enter the stadium, and the club have now issued an apology to those supporters, in addition to anyone else who was impacted by the digital ticketing issues.
This is how the Spotify Camp Nou looks just minutes before Barça vs Alavés. Around 2,000 tickets couldn’t be downloaded due to a technical issue in Barça’s Socios app.
— BarçaTimes (@BarcaTimes) November 29, 2025
There are long queues at the Auditori 1899 as fans try to collect physical tickets for the match, which kicks… pic.twitter.com/eSiPwg71rS
Club Vice-President apologises to Barcelona fans
In a statement released after the full-time whistle, the club's vice-president, Elena Font, said:
“We apologise. We detected a slowdown in the system. You have to understand that we are in a new stadium and that we are implementing a new access system. Unfortunately, the technology hasn't kept up. It's a learning experience for us.
“There were 7,500 fans. We tried to help them. We reacted, and well into the match, they were able to enter the stadium. There are about 300 who didn't get in; we don't know if they left or didn't receive assistance. The OAB will contact them individually to find out what happened.”
FGG says: A common issue throughout Europe
Elite football clubs seem to think that digital tickets are the way forward as they save on printing costs and allow them to track where tickets end up.
However, there is no getting away from the fact that digital tickets have resulted in longer queues outside turnstiles across Europe, and countless scenarios like the one at the Camp Nou, where fans are left stranded while the match is going on just metres away.
Perhaps the time has come for a rethink and a return to paper tickets – you won't find many matchgoing fans who would be against such a move.