Spotify Camp Nou ends with record attendance
A season to remember at Spotify Camp Nou as FC Barcelona's famous home has closed its doors, albeit temporarily, after recording the best average crowd for the league campaign in the 21st century. In the 2022/23 the average attendance for Barça games at the stadium was some 83,497, the highest since the millennium.
Since the stadium capacity was reduced to 99,354, Spotify Camp Nou has not seen such a high average attendance. The record is even more impressive if we take into account the fact that in December part of the Gol Sur stand was demolished to reduce capacity to 95,877.
Barça v Real Madrid, biggest crowd
As is usual, the Clásico is the game that brings the biggest attendance. This season in week 26 of La Liga the last minute 2-1 win for the blaugranes thanks to Franck Kessie's goal was witnessed by 95,745 fans, giving it a lead of over 3,000 with regards to the next highest figure.
With the Clásico in first place, the next best crowd came in November of last year when 92,605 came to see Gerard Pique's final game as a blaugrana against Almería. In third place comes Barça's vital 1-0 win over Valencia in week 24 of the season, a victory that was key to Xavi's side maintaining momentum in the race for the league title.
Average crowds in the 21st century
For the first time in the 21st century, the average crowd at Spotify Camp Nou has exceeded 80,000. In 2010/11 the figure was close with an average of 79,192 and again in 2015/16 (78,342) and 2016/17 (78,678).
This season's average is a marked improvement on recent campaigns but it worth remembering that those seasons saw restrictions on crowds due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 2020/21 the average crowd was not even calculated due to regulations and the following season saw a figure of 53,982, the lowest recorded.
Big crowds in other competitions
Aside from La Liga, there were big crowds in other competitions also. In the group stage of the Champions League at Spotify Camp Nou, 77,411 watched the game against Viktoria Pilsen, 92,302 against Internazionale and 84,016 against Bayern Munich. In the Europa League impressive crowds continued with 90,225 witnessing the fixture against Manchester United, giving an average of 85,988 in European competition.
In the Copa del Rey, 94,902 fans saw the Clásico against Real Madrid with 59,610 attending the previous round against Real Sociedad, an average of 77,256.
Overall, the average attendance for all competitions is very close to the league average with a figure of 83,396 for the season as a whole.