Exclusive Joan Laporta interview as Barça say goodbye to current Camp Nou

Sunday's match between Barcelona and Mallorca will be the last at Spotify Camp Nou as we know it. In the next few weeks, renovation work will begin and the first team will not play there again until November 2024. Barça president, Joan Laporta, reviews for SPORT his best experiences in the Barça temple. Socio number 12,588, he does so from his seat in the side area of the second tier, specifically from seat 20 in row 11 of stand 229.

What do you think the Camp Nou means to Barcelona fans?

It is the stadium where we have experienced moments of glory and also of suffering. It's like a second home for us, where we come every fortnight, generally. It is a sanctuary. We carry it deep inside us, it's part of our lives. Now we are going to fulfill a dream, which is to have an improved stadium and we are all excited. We will experience strong emotions this Sunday and we are excited about what the return will be like and what we will find. I see joy, enthusiasm and excitement at a fact that is making a collective dream of the Barcelonistas come true.

And for Joan Laporta?

Camp Nou is my life. I've been coming here since I was four years old. I used to go with my grandfather in the upper tier, I had to sit on the stairs because when you were little they would sneak you in and you sat wherever you could. My grandfather would buy me a dummy and go inside, while my father went to the sidelines. I remember the controversy with Rexach. I was a defender of his, this has always happened at Barça. For me the players were sacred. I argued with the people who shouted.

And you kept changing where you sat?

After I went to Gol Sur, behind the goal. I went with friends of mine from school, Rafa Yuste, Xavi Sans, Alfons Godall. We got older and I used to go to the seats Rafa Yuste had in Gol or to the side seats with my father. I have experienced different atmospheres, in different places and also in the box.

And where did you have the best time, in the stands or in the box?

Of course in the stands, it's more fun, you have more freedom. One of the things I didn't like when I was president for the first time was not being able to come to the stadium with my children. They had to come with a friend. It changes your experiences because you have more responsibility. If you tell me which Champions League (win) I enjoyed the most, I will say Wembley because I went with friends.

You lived a lot for Barça.

We lived for Barça. We approached the weekend according to Barça. We followed them. Car and travel wherever they played. When you get married, you want to keep that rhythm, but you leave it for home games. You come to a marital agreement that you have to go to Barça's home games, it's a universal principle. As a rule, I got it, my wife understood it. And I came with my children.

You must have a lot of memories.

A lot. I remember Pujolet, who was a winger who could get in everywhere, Fusté. I remember Pérez, Muller, Bustillo, players who may not have been in the media, but who I saw when I was a kid and who stayed with me. I remember the games in the afternoon, with that characteristic light. I remember the night of Guruzeta and covering the pitch in pads (small cushions). I was eight years old and I spent a long time with my friends throwing pads on the pitch because it was such a scandal. I remember when people smoked, the cigars, the man who came out with a cigar when Barça scored a goal, the scoreboards that were commercial brands. I also remember the first Barça anthem, the way they cheered, shouting Barça and clapping their hands.

You must have experienced a lot of unforgettable matches.

So many. Many European ones. I remember one against Feyenoord in the European Cup with three goals from Charli, a 3-0 win over Ipswich, Zuviría's goal in the comeback against Anderlecht. The games from Johan's time as a player, with Cruyff, Sotil and Marcial were the best. That time marked me because it made us winners. I remember Johan's crosses and Sotil's goals.

A lot of memories from the seventies. At the end of the eighties and beginning of the nineties came the Dream Team.

With Godall, Rafa Yuste and Xavi Sans we would leave the games quickly to get to the car we had parked at the Sofia and listen to Johan's press conference. We really enjoyed it at that time. It was pure show. Romario's goals, Stoichkov's goals, his long runs, how Laudrup played... Koeman's ball movements and his shots, Bakero and his way of playing that people had to get used to, some of Txiki's goals, Guardiola's passes, who was the coach's transmission belt on the pitch.

And years later, as president, you were able to enjoy Guardiola's Barça.

We have been able to enjoy Iniesta, Busquets, Puyol, Valdés, Piqué, Xavi, Messi. We are privileged. We experienced Guardiola's Barça and Rijkaard's Barça. We have seen the best football in the world. There is no more exquisite football than that played by Barça. And in different eras. Because we have talked about these teams, but I also remember Migueli, who made his debut with the No.8. Schuster, who impressed me as he picked up the ball in midfield and reached the area where he shot. Neeskens and his mowing down, with his ankle pads and the penalties he took.

Do you have a special goal?

Here I saw Johan's goal on a pass from Charli, the flying Dutchman. It was the goal that had the biggest impact on me. It was a spectacular leap against Atlético de Madrid. But I've also seen goals from Romario's turn against (Real Madrid's) Alkorta, from Ronaldinho like the one in the gazpacho match that we played at midnight against Sevilla, Messi's goal against Getafe. They are legendary goals. We have seen so many of Messi's goals that he deserves a separate chapter on the subject of goals. As president, I was touched by Eto'o's goals, which he celebrated by looking at the box and waving to me.

What do you think the return to the stadium will be like?

We will have the best stadium in the world. We will keep the first two stands because the panoramic view it has is spectacular, it is a unique temple. Mitjans was a genius when he designed it. The third one will be more comfortable, safer. There will be no grandstand visor and the whole pitch will be balanced and covered except the pitch. Nobody will get wet. And we will have a good team. With Pedri, Gavi, Araujo, Balde who are called to be our references of present and future.