Barcelona Launches Construction Of $22.6M Johan Cruyff Stadium

Barcelona President Josep Maria Bartomeu said that Johan Cruyff "would be delighted" to have a ground in his honor after the club "officially launched the construction of the Johan Cruyff Stadium on Thursday," according to Samuel Marsden of ESPN.com. Cruyff played for Barcelona for five years in the '70s and also coached the team for eight years. The stadium, which is being built at Barça's training center, will hold 6,000 supporters and will cost around €19M ($22.6M) to build. Once ready, sometime before '21, "it will replace the Mini Estadi, which is next to the Camp Nou," as the home ground for Barça B, Barcelona's women's team and the U19 side when it plays in the UEFA Youth League. A "clear plastic time capsule filled with different objects was deposited into the ground on the exact site where the stadium will be built." The club said that it named the stadium after Cruyff because he "was the main driving force behind the club's style of play and its youth academy-based approach" (ESPN.com, 9/14).

📷 See all of the best images from the ceremony when the first stone was laid at the @JohanCruyff Stadium on Thursday. 🔴🔵#ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/VdTVy0Pd4F

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 14, 2017