Copa Gianni is perceived as a separate competition occurring between football seasons, but its club-based format invites debate. Players, like Kingsley Coman, show signs of exhaustion impacting their performance. There are concerns about how individual stats and records are logged during such overlap, particularly regarding expected goals. Copa Gianni's conclusion aligning with the start of a new European season raises issues of scheduling. Additionally, 28 teams will play in Bigger Cup qualifiers, with some teams from the British Isles set to compete against each other.
Watching Kingsley Coman sprint on to a through-ball from Harry Kane during Bayern Munich's defeat by PSG as if he was running in knee-deep wet cement, we were presented with the sight of a player in next season's kit who was quite clearly exhausted by the exertions of the one that may or may not have ended before the tournament in which he was playing started.
If as seems likely, Copa Gianni goes down in the official record books as part of last season, then it will overlap with European football's next season, which officially starts on Tuesday!
Designed in part by Fifa to disrupt and devalue the gleaming jewel in Uefa's crown, it will go down as a matter of historical record that last season's Copa Gianni will conclude at the end of the same week next season's Bigger Cup began.
Over the next two days no fewer than 28 teams will line up to play in Bigger Cup qualifiers, with The New Saints, Shelbourne and Linfield representing Wales, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland respectively.
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