The attendance record for a club game in women's football was broken by Atleti de Madrid in 2019.
The 60,739 people who watched from the stands that day felt like a turning point for women's football in Spain. The growth came to a halt after the Pandemic hit.
This week, Barcelona have a chance to break that record again in what will be the most important women's El Clasico to date.
This won't be Barcelona's debut at the club's flagship stadium, but it feels like a first.
The game between Barcelona and Espanyol was played out in an empty stadium because of Covid restrictions.
They will host their biggest rivals Real Madrid in the second leg of their Women's European Championship quarter-final on Wednesday in front of an anticipated crowd of 90,000.
The success of the women's side has made fans proud in a year when the men have struggled to find their identity.
The game at the Nou Camp marks a real milestone for the team.
"These stadiums are the symbols, the icons of these clubs, and I have been following Barcelona's women's team since the beginning of the year."
Giving the women a chance to play at these stadiums makes these matches special and helps the sport progress because it attracts more supporters to the women's game.
Natalia Robles will be attending the game as a neutral.
She says that it's great for exposure because people can't afford to watch a game in that type of stadium.
Club members were initially offered the chance to claim tickets for free, while non-members had to pay. Only a small number of tickets remain available after a few hundred thousand were snapped up in a few days.
| 1. 60,739 - Barcelona v Atletico Madrid at the Wanda Metropolitano (March 2019) |
| 2. 53,000 - Dick, Kerr Ladies v St Helens Ladies at Goodison Park (December 1920) |
| 3. 51,211 - Monterrey vs Tigres at Estadio BBVA Bancomer (May 2018) |
| 4. 48,121 - Athletic Bilbao v Atletico Madrid at the San Mames stadium (January, 2019) |
| 5. 45,423 - Chelsea v Arsenal at Wembley (May 2018) |
The women's football in Spain seemed to be on an upward trend when the two teams faced each other at the Wanda Metropolitano.
The league had never been as accessible to fans as it is now, with many games on TV every weekend and more and more clubs opening up their stadiums to their women's side, while clubs and players were negotiating their first collective agreement over pay and conditions.
The long-standing battle between La Liga and the Spanish Football Federation spread into the women's game. After years of fighting to control the sport in the country, the two governing bodies started battling for dominance in women's football, with the Federation announcing the creation of a new league separate from the one organised by La Liga.
The first player strike in Spanish women's football was caused by the pay negotiations stalling. Since then, the league has become less accessible, making it nearly impossible to watch games on TV for most teams, and there has been slow progress in professionalising the league.
The Spanish women's football community is hoping that will change soon. With Barcelona dominating and the emergence of a new star in the form of Alexia Putellas, a sense of optimism and new attention has been brought to women's football in the country.
Over the past couple of years,vid restrictions have made it hard for women's teams to return to these arenas.
Women's football in Spain needs to get back onto the track they were on before the health crisis, and the game at the Nou Camp could be the push they need.
These games are unlikely to become a regular occurrence in the near future. Barcelona have the largest crowds in the Spanish league, but their average attendance figure is less than 3000.
Miki Soria, who has been covering Barcelona Femeni for the last 10 years at SPORT, says that they have to understand the context of the event.
I don't think it's possible to play every match at the Nou Camp. We are far away from that.
It is not clear how many of those 90,000-plus tickets holders will attend. Some season-ticket holders and supporters might not show up.
To prevent this, the club has redoubled its marketing efforts over the last couple of weeks to convince everyone with a ticket to attend.
Regardless of whether attendance records are broken or not, the excitement around the game should be the encouragement other teams need to bring some of those key matches to the biggest stages. Is the Bernabeu next?
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