In a strange turn of events, the El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid might wind up taking place at Wembley Stadium in the latter part of the season.
As Barcelona wraps up a second season at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, the La Liga match is set for May 11 and is their penultimate home game.
Due to renovations at Camp Nou, the stadium that hosted the 1992 Olympics and was once home to local rivals Espanyol has being used as a temporary base since 2023.
However, the Camp Nou project has already gone beyond its initial schedule, which called for Barcelona to return to the property by the end of 2024 and for all construction to be finished by June 2026. Given that the Olympic venue will host the first two games in 2025, that clearly hasn't happened.
The problem now arises. Camp Nou is probably remain unavailable by April, when Barcelona's lease on the Montjuic stadium expires. However, there are already scheduled events at the Lluis Companys after that period, such as Rolling Stones concerts, as the elderly British rock band plays two gigs on May 10 and 15 to start a European tour. This makes it difficult to prolong at the venue.
In addition to needing to move their home match against Villarreal on May 18, Barcelona would also need a backup plan in case they advance to the Champions League semifinals.
The board met on Tuesday to consider possibilities, including the potential of holding the game abroad, according to the Daily Mail. Wembley is therefore regarded as a "wild card" to intervene.
After looking to host a game abroad, La Liga and Spain's football federation (RFEF) could approve. Prior to plans collapsing due to third-party involvement, Barcelona's matchup with Atletico Madrid in December was supposed to take place in Miami.
The Supercopa de Espana was held in Morocco in 2018 and Saudi Arabia in every other year except 2021 as Spanish football wants to increase its popularity on a worldwide scale and challenge the Premier League as the most popular domestic league in the world.
Since hosting NFL regular season games every year since 2007 and at least two per year since 2013, Wembley has also had experience hosting "domestic" international sporting events.
With only preseason or Supercopa matches between Barcelona and Real Madrid now played abroad, it would surely be a major commercial moment for La Liga. However, most regular matchgoers would not be able to attend any Barcelona games, including El Clasico, in London or anyplace else in the world.
Four fan organizations issued a unified statement after being disqualified from two home games last month due to unpaid fines, further exposing the club's attitude of supporters.
"There is a lot more going on here than just fines we don't want to pay. The collective Espai d'Animacio stated, "The [members] are gradually losing the weight they have historically had."
"The team is ruining the atmosphere, packing the stadium with visitors, using Mexican waves at 0-0, using 'kiss cams,' having a ridiculous announcer, charging outrageous costs, encouraging a lack of competition, changing the colors for marketing, and making important choices without consulting anyone or being transparent. A financial model that harms the club's closest and most devoted supporters is one of the countless factors that expose the board's motives. Both socially and economically, they are selling the club.
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