The figures for the 2024-2025 financial year presented by Real Madrid shine, at first glance, like a freshly cleaned ceramic hob. The club, chaired by Florentino Pérez, closed the year with €1.185 billion in revenue, €24 million in profit, and a net worth of €598 million. Barça, on the other hand, closed the year with 994 million in revenue.17 million in losses and a negative net worth of 153 million. But, if you scratch the surface of Real Madrid's finances, you can find traces of dried-up oil, just like at Barcelona.

The Barcelona Public Health Agency (ASPB) has detected a case of tuberculosis in a worker at the Camp Nou renovation project, according to the newspaper. The Country Sources from the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT) have confirmed this to ARA. For now, therefore, it is not considered an outbreak because only one case has been confirmed. Following this worker's infection, a study has been activated among those who have been in contact with him to rule out further infections. The alert reached the epidemiology service of the Barcelona Public Health Agency on October 24, according to the agency. The affected worker, diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, began treatment immediately. A contact tracing study was also initiated, a measure stipulated in the tuberculosis control protocol. In this case, 23 people have been in contact with the affected worker and could therefore have been exposed. Some of the people included in this contact tracing study work for the same company as the affected worker, a construction company involved in the renovation of the FC Barcelona stadium. For the moment, the ASPB points out, the study is ongoing and no further cases have been confirmed so far.

In a vacant lot in Santa Fe del Penedès, between lonely vineyards and the C-15 motorway, some pieces of the new Camp Nou are waiting patiently to begin a second life. Being part of of one of the most important works currently being built in southern Europe to an uncertain future that could lead them to become either a stately door to a block of flats in the Eixample district or the nightstand you'll buy next week at Ikea.

The electoral campaigns have begun in broad daylight at Barça. From outside the club, it is highlighted that potential candidate Marc Ciria is collecting signatures to prevent BLM (the Barça trade) from becoming a new lever for Joan Laporta's board to save short-term profits in exchange for selling the club's assets. His goal is to have enough signatures (around 3,500) to make the issue an item on the agenda at the October shareholders' meeting. From within, Laporta's board, through friends like economist Xavier Sala i Martín, accuses Jaume Collboni's City Council of delaying permits for the return to Camp Nou for electoral reasons. Place your bets, ladies and gentlemen.

"Laporta's children will still have to deal with Barça's debt," a specialist in Barça's economics recently commented. He said this metaphorically, because none of them has ever publicly expressed their intention to become Barça president one day. What the author of the phrase meant was that the Catalan club has reached such a high level of debt and for such a long time that future generations of culés will have to assume it. Barça's debt currently stands at around 1.3 billion euros, not counting the debt. the 1.45 billion euros in funding for the Espai Barça, which are expected to be repaid by 2050 with the profits generated by the fully refurbished Camp Nou.

For the third time, Barça's men's first team will play at the Johan Cruyff Stadium. After playing at Gamper Stadium and in the La Liga match against Valencia, the club confirmed that it would face Getafe again on Sunday. And it might not be the last time, depending on whether it obtains the necessary permits to reopen the Camp Nou for the next match, on Sunday the 28th, when Real Sociedad visits. The ambition of Joan Laporta's board to start the season at home has come up against construction delays and bureaucracy. Nothing is certain, and optimism or pessimism depends exclusively on the person being asked. At the time of going to press, the majority of sources consulted were inclined to believe the game against the San Sebastian team will be played at the Camp Nou. On the other hand, it seems very difficult to be ready in time for the Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain.

Let's start by stating that the day Barça members can return to the completed Camp Nou, they will find it the best stadium in the world and will forget all the delays, the years spent at Montjuïc, and the lotteries to be able to go to Johan Cruyff or the Camp Nou halfway, the day they arrive. In this, there are no distinctions: everyone is eager to return home because there's no place like home, and when you return, the excitement of the re-opening makes up for the inconvenience.

Laporta's most resounding blunder regarding the Espai Barça wasn't his appearance in the announcement of a return to the Camp Nou for the Joan Gamper Trophy, which never happened. Laporta's most resounding blunder regarding the Espai Barça took place on October 8, 2021, before the Camp Nou renovations had even begun. The Barça president then informed RAC1 that Barça's men's first team would be going "for a year to play at the Johan Cruyff stadium, with 40,000 or 50,000 spectators."

Almost two years after saying goodbye, on May 28, 2023, Barça has set an official date for its return to Camp Nou: August 10 to compete in the Joan Gamper Trophy. The Catalan club made this official this Wednesday through an announcement circulated on social media under the slogan "We're coming home, we're vibrating," featuring president Joan Laporta. However, Barça has yet to reveal the opponent for this match or the number of fans allowed to attend (although it is certain that capacity will be limited). The event will serve as a testing ground for the return to official competition, which will take place weeks later.

The renovation of Camp Nou and the interest generation from the financing that is allowing the works to be carried out are progressing in parallel. This is one of the ways in which the twenty investment funds that have provided credit so Barça can undertake its most important project of the 21st century do business. According to the 2024 report of the Espai Barça securitization fund, published by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) this spring, the Blaugrana club has accumulated €132.4 million in accrued interest (i.e., not yet paid) without any of it having been amortized. The first €46.9 million were generated in 2023, and the remaining €85.5 million, in 2024.

There were many culés who on May 28, 2023 wanted say goodbye to the stage where so many joys have been experienced. Camp Nou began work in June to change its skin –and a little more– and become a stadium of the 21st century. While the renovation is still underway, already with some delay and many unknowns, Barça plays its matches at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys. In this photo gallery we suggest you review the minute by minute –which we will update regularly– of the state of the construction work at the Spotify Camp Nou. It is the countdown of the culés to return home.