Barcelona have now played three games back at the Camp Nou following two years of renovation work, but a new major milestone is on the horizon as the club prepares to welcome Eintracht Frankfurt to the stadium for their first Champions League match back at their home stadium.
The first three matches back at the Camp Nou haven't been without hitches, with digital ticketing issues causing chaos outside the stadium before and during the match against Alaves on 29 November.
However, UEFA officials have cleared the stadium to be used in the Champions League, and the club have now released the ticket information for the match.
Barcelona release Frankfurt ticket details
Barcelona have revealed that for the match against Frankfurt, only club members will be allowed to purchase tickets.
The reason given for this move is due to what happened inside the Camp Nou when the two clubs last met back in April 2022 in the Europa League quarter-finals.
On the night, more than 30,000 Frankfurt fans managed to get inside the Camp Nou, which made the match look and feel like a home tie for the German club. The fact that Frankfurt went on to win the match only made the situation even more embarrassing for Barcelona.
30,000 Frankfurt fans flew to Spain to make the Nou Camp their home.
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 15, 2022
Enough to fill most LaLiga stadiums.
German fans are something special 👏 pic.twitter.com/soHwYWPSmC
The club have stated that the move to limit ticket sales to members will ‘safeguard Barcelona fans' while also limiting the possibilities for Frankfurt fans to get tickets in the home sections. They want the match to be a “space of celebration and exclusive support for Barca fans”.
The statement also came with a threat to their own fans. Any Frankfurt supporter caught in the home sections in the Camp Nou will have their ticket seized, and the membership number checked to identify who sold the ticket on.
Barcelona president, Joan Laporta, added:
“I don't want to have the feeling we had during that game in 2022. It's a horrific memory, the stadium full of opposition shirts.”
FGG says: A welcome message from Barcelona
Some people may feel that Barcelona are acting irrationally here, but at least they are trying to do something about ticket touting and home tickets falling into the wrong hands. There have been several similar incidents in UEFA competitions in recent years, but strict messaging like the one from Barcelona here will help stamp it out of the game.