It took just four minutes for Polish striker Robert Lewandowski to earn the honour of scoring the first goal in the new Spotify Camp Nou.
Barcelona's top scorer in recent seasons, his celebrations did justice to the significance he knew was attached to the moment.
After two-and-a-half years, including a year of missed deadlines, the Spanish champions returned to their half-built home, where 45,000 fans were licensed to attend in a venue which will eventually seat 105,000 when it’s finished one year from now.
Or two, perhaps, if recent history is anything to go by. Although, it is realistic that 62,000 seats will be in use before the end of 2025.
Camp Nou was already a cathedral of world football, but it was dated and its facilities had fallen behind rival venues.
With demand high and average attendances of 88,000 before the stadium was reduced to a shell and part-demolished, Barcelona knew the scope was there for their home to be bigger and better, with a roof, and crucially from the point of view of the club, far more executive facilities, where visitors pay much more than the average season ticket holder.
Barcelona are aggressive with the ticket pricing and their US-inspired model is being copied by other European clubs.
However, their ownership model means the club is owned by its supporters, who each have a vote. The board can hardly price out those supporters, though it’s much easier to charge a higher price ticket to a one-off tourist fan, even though it’s deeply unpopular.
Tickets were priced at a minimum of €199 on the morning of Saturday's 4-0 win over Athletic Bilbao, rising to over €500 for a non-executive seat in the main stand.
In contrast, Barcelona look after their season ticket holders with fair pricing. It's the one-off visitors, ever-increasing in their number, who bear the brunt.
Of the 45,000 fans in attendance, 24,000 were season ticket holders given priority given after supporting their team through a two-season stay in the city’s Olympic Stadium. That meant the remaining 21,000 tickets were for fans at the ridiculously high prices – a far higher percentage than the 15,000 available to one-off visitors when the stadium held 99,000 before its remodelling.
The club stressed that the high prices were because of the significance of the game, the attractive opponents and that tickets wouldn’t be so steep from now on.
They acknowledge the moves are not popular and state that the club needs to make €225 million from stadium operations this season, €50 million more than last season when they played in front of average crowds of 47,000 at Montjuic.
The result is that it’s not just rival fans who sneer at the number of tourists at Barcelona games.
“Not everyone returns home,” tweeted the Almogavers, a vocal supporters’ group who brought the noise to Barca games but who were vetoed from attending.
“The veto of Almogavers means that after 36 years of cheering for Barca we find ourselves on the street. The Grada Animacio (animated stand) with the groups could be a reality. Tourists are preferred instead of flags, drums and those who cheer. A new Camp Nou without the spark of animation.”
The group’s place watching Barca – and that of some other groups – was closed a year ago after fines totalling €21,000 were issued by La Liga, Uefa and the Catalan government following 14 misdemeanours from fans including racist chants from a minority.
The club paid the fines and asked the fan groups to reimburse them. They didn’t, and a solution hasn’t been found. On Saturday, 1,200 seats were left empty behind the south goal – a collective punishment for the actions of a few.
“The decision to close the entire Supporters' Stand is a disproportionate measure that criminalises an entire group that has shown itself to be by the team's side whenever it has needed it,” said Victor Font, who wants to replace Joan Laporta as president when elections are held next year.
Who ends up sitting inside the new Camp Nou is a real issue. Against the Basques, there were pockets of vocal support and chants of “Visca Barca” and “Visca Catalunya” but the noisiest fans were missed in what is still a building site.
With seven Catalans in their starting eleven, Barcelona did well, winning comfortably and moving on to the same points as Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, though Madrid have a game in hand.
The Basques of Athletic are no slouches. Europa League semi-finalists and fourth place in La Liga last term, they’re seventh in the table so far, having had to deal with Champions League football under former Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde, but they were easily brushed aside on Saturday.
Ferran Torres scored twice, Fermin Lopez got one, while Lamine Yamal made two assists. Scarves bearing Yamal’s name dominate merchandise stalls outside the stadium.
The 18-year-old was barely on the radar of most Barcelona fans the last and only time he appeared in Camp Nou – for 7 minutes against Real Betis in April 2023 – aged just 15.
He’s now the main man, the big hope to carry the team in what will be an incredible new home. But who will be watching him in the stands when the stadium is at full capacity?
Recipe
Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo
Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Serves 4
Ingredients
180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Method
▶ Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.
▶ Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.
▶ Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking, remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.
▶ Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
3%20Body%20Problem
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UAE’s revised Cricket World Cup League Two schedule
August, 2021: Host - United States; Teams - UAE, United States and Scotland
Between September and November, 2021 (dates TBC): Host - Namibia; Teams - Namibia, Oman, UAE
December, 2021: Host - UAE; Teams - UAE, Namibia, Oman
February, 2022: Hosts - Nepal; Teams - UAE, Nepal, PNG
June, 2022: Hosts - Scotland; Teams - UAE, United States, Scotland
September, 2022: Hosts - PNG; Teams - UAE, PNG, Nepal
February, 2023: Hosts - UAE; Teams - UAE, PNG, Nepal
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
The specs: 2018 Nissan 370Z Nismo
Price, base / as tested: Dh182,178
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Power: 350hp @ 7,400rpm
Torque: 374Nm @ 5,200rpm
Transmission: Seven-speed automatic
Fuel consumption, combined: 10.5L / 100km
FIXTURES
Thu Mar 15 – West Indies v Afghanistan, UAE v Scotland
Fri Mar 16 – Ireland v Zimbabwe
Sun Mar 18 – Ireland v Scotland
Mon Mar 19 – West Indies v Zimbabwe
Tue Mar 20 – UAE v Afghanistan
Wed Mar 21 – West Indies v Scotland
Thu Mar 22 – UAE v Zimbabwe
Fri Mar 23 – Ireland v Afghanistan
The top two teams qualify for the World Cup
Classification matches
The top-placed side out of Papua New Guinea, Hong Kong or Nepal will be granted one-day international status. UAE and Scotland have already won ODI status, having qualified for the Super Six.
Thu Mar 15 – Netherlands v Hong Kong, PNG v Nepal
Sat Mar 17 – 7th-8th place playoff, 9th-10th place playoff
FIGHT%20CARD
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFeatherweight%204%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EYousuf%20Ali%20(2-0-0)%20(win-loss-draw)%20v%20Alex%20Semugenyi%20(0-1-0)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWelterweight%206%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EBenyamin%20Moradzadeh%20(0-0-0)%20v%20Rohit%20Chaudhary%20(4-0-2)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EHeavyweight%204%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EYoussef%20Karrar%20(1-0-0)%20v%20Muhammad%20Muzeei%20(0-0-0)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EWelterweight%206%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMarwan%20Mohamad%20Madboly%20(2-0-0)%20v%20Sheldon%20Schultz%20(4-4-0)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESuper%20featherweight%208%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EBishara%20Sabbar%20(6-0-0)%20v%20Mohammed%20Azahar%20(8-5-1)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECruiseweight%208%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EMohammed%20Bekdash%20(25-0-0)%20v%20Musa%20N%E2%80%99tege%20(8-4-0)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESuper%20flyweight%2010%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3ESultan%20Al%20Nuaimi%20(9-0-0)%20v%20Jemsi%20Kibazange%20(18-6-2)%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ELightweight%2010%20rounds%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cbr%3EBader%20Samreen%20(8-0-0)%20v%20Jose%20Paez%20Gonzales%20(16-2-2-)%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
League Cup, last 16
Manchester City v Southampton, Tuesday, 11.45pm (UAE)
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: SimpliFi
Started: August 2021
Founder: Ali Sattar
Based: UAE
Industry: Finance, technology
Investors: 4DX, Rally Cap, Raed, Global Founders, Sukna and individuals
Results
5pm: Al Maha Stables – Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m; Winner: Reem Baynounah, Fernando Jara (jockey), Mohamed Daggash (trainer)
5.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup – Maiden (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: AF Afham, Tadhg O’Shea, Ernst Oertel
6pm: Emirates Fillies Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Ghallieah, Sebastien Martino, Jean-Claude Pecout
6.30pm: Emirates Colts Classic – Prestige (PA) Dh100,000 (T) 1,600m; Winner: Yas Xmnsor, Saif Al Balushi, Khalifa Al Neyadi
7pm: The President’s Cup – Group 1 (PA) Dh2,500,000 (T) 2,200m; Winner: Somoud, Adrie de Vries, Jean de Roualle
7.30pm: The President’s Cup – Listed (TB) Dh380,000 (T) 1,400m; Winner: Haqeeqy, Dane O’Neill, John Hyde.
Know your camel milk:
Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
Texture: Smooth and creamy, with a slightly thinner consistency than cow’s milk.
Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
Dunki
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
Sri Lanka's T20I squad
Thisara Perera (captain), Dilshan Munaweera, Danushka Gunathilaka, Sadeera Samarawickrama, Ashan Priyanjan, Mahela Udawatte, Dasun Shanaka, Sachith Pathirana, Vikum Sanjaya, Lahiru Gamage, Seekkuge Prasanna, Vishwa Fernando, Isuru Udana, Jeffrey Vandersay and Chathuranga de Silva.
Moral education needed in a 'rapidly changing world'
Moral education lessons for young people is needed in a rapidly changing world, the head of the programme said.
Alanood Al Kaabi, head of programmes at the Education Affairs Office of the Crown Price Court - Abu Dhabi, said: "The Crown Price Court is fully behind this initiative and have already seen the curriculum succeed in empowering young people and providing them with the necessary tools to succeed in building the future of the nation at all levels.
"Moral education touches on every aspect and subject that children engage in.
"It is not just limited to science or maths but it is involved in all subjects and it is helping children to adapt to integral moral practises.
"The moral education programme has been designed to develop children holistically in a world being rapidly transformed by technology and globalisation."
Blackpink World Tour [Born Pink] In Cinemas
Starring: Rose, Jisoo, Jennie, Lisa
Directors: Min Geun, Oh Yoon-Dong
Rating: 3/5
Padmaavat
Director: Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Starring: Ranveer Singh, Deepika Padukone, Shahid Kapoor, Jim Sarbh
3.5/5
