Citing anonymous sources, MARCA reported that FC Barcelona is starting to accept that it won't return to its Spotify Camp Nou stadium this season save for a "miracle".
Barca stopped playing in its iconic ground after winning the La Liga title under Xavi Hernandez in 2022/2023, so that it could undergo a huge renovation it was hoped would be completed to coincide with the club's 125th anniversary.
That milestone passed on November 29 this year, by which other dates in December and perhaps the end of January were rumored.
The club has been careful not to give a definitive date, and with UEFA rules stating that participants in the Champions League cannot play at different home grounds during its initial league phase, February 16 against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga was floated around in reports as a target date for the long-awaited return.
This is because Barca's last home game in the Champions League comes on January 29 against Atalanta. Slightly under two months until said date in mid-February, MARCA reported that Barca's board of directors are "aware that the first team will not return to the Camp Nou this season unless there is a miracle in which no one trusts anymore".
Construction work isn't going "at the desired pace", and there are "many pending issues that will make it impossible for the team to return in this campaign" which will have to be concluded in Montjuic.
Anonymous club sources that spoke to the Spanish newspaper have confirmed this doubt, and "see it as almost impossible" for Barca to return home in 2024/2025 because some technical aspects of the renovation such as emergency exits haven't been resolved while the grass will also need a couple of months to be settled if it can start to be laid in mid-January as forecast.
The same UEFA rule about the UCL league phase also applies to the knockout rounds which must be played in the same ultimate.
This means that in a fashion, Barca's return to the Camp Nou could be inextricably linked to how far it goes on the continent on Hansi Flick's watch.