FC Barcelona and the Olympic Stadium: Did you know?

FC Barcelona are moving to the Lluís Companys Olympic Stadium while work is being done to totally redevelop Spotify Camp Nou. It all starts with the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 8 against Tottenham Hotspur. But Barça are not strangers to the historic venue, and here are ten things that already connect the club to the ground.

Sastre and Messi, first and last goal

Barça first played at the stadium on 26 May 1929 as part of the International Exposition in Barcelona. They played Atlético Madrid and won 4-0, with Josep Sastre scoring the team's first ever goal there. 79 years later, Leo Messi was the last Barça goalscorer in the stadium, an injury time penalty to win 2-1 against Espanyol, who like Barça now were also using the ground as their temporary home.

Special for Messi

The Argentine superstar also made his official debut at the Olympic Stadium. That too was in a local derby with Espanyol, on 16 October 2004. Messi came on for the last few minutes, replacing Deco, who has scored the only goal in what would be a 1-0 victory.

Managerial debut

The stadium was also the stage for Bobby Robson's first game as Barça manager on 25 August 1996. That was in the Spanish Super Cup against Atlético Madrid. Having lost the first leg 3-1, Barça ended up winning the return 5-2, for a 6-5 victory on aggregate.

Ronaldo's first goal

That same game brought the first of 47 goals that Ronaldo Nazário scored in his first and only season in blaugrana. In fact, not only did the Brazilian open the scoring that day but he also scored what turned out to be the winner.

Top scorers at Montjuïc

Ronaldo is actually Barça's joint top goalscorer of all time at the Olympic Stadium, needing just two games to get his four goals. Patrick Kluivert was the other player to score four times at the ground.

Atlético crushed

Barça's two biggest wins at the Olympic Stadium were both against Atlético Madrid. Those were the aforesaid 4-0 in 1929 and the 5-2 in 1996.

Those were official fixtures, but there have also been huge friendly victories. In 1929, there was a 6-2 win against Jupiter, a lower league club from Barcelona, in a fundraiser for for Hospital Clínic, and a 5-1 win in just 45 minutes against Sevilla in a mini tournament played in 1993 to celebrate the first anniversary of the Olympic Games.

Eight minute hat-trick

In that peculiar half-match with Sevilla, Julio Salinas scored three goals in the first eight minutes. Visiting keeper Monchi was beaten in the 1st, 4th and 8th minutes.

Two 0-0 draws

Just two Barça games at Montjuic failed to produce any goals. Those were both league matches with Espanyol, one in 2001 and one in 2009.

One European game

This season will bring the Champions League to the Olympic Stadium for the first time. But it won't be the first European football that Barça have played there. In 1996, and because the grass was still not ready in Camp Nou, the Cup Winners' Cup game with AEK Larnaca of Cyprus was moved there. And that's where Ronaldo got his other two goals. Barça would go on to win the trophy, beating PSG in the final.

Three titles

Barça have won three of their many trophies at Montjuic. The first was the Spanish Cup in 1957 (a 1-0 win against Espanyol) as well as two wins in the Joan Gamper Trophy, which has twice been played at the venue. In 1990, they beat Spartak Moscow and Anderlecht, and in 1996 they beat San Lorenzo and Inter Milan.