Udinese isabria hosting a triangular pre‑season tournament that will feature three 45‑minute matches back‑to‑back. The inaugural Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup takes a round‑robin format and kicks off with the Serie A team taking on Nottingham Forest at the Bluenergy Stadium in Udine, Italy.

Forest will then play Barcelona before the tournament concludes with the Spanish champions facing the hosts. All teams, therefore, will get 90 minutes of football in total to put their players through their paces. Barça’s own preview of the day’s event even billed it as "FC Barcelona v Nottingham Forest v Udinese Calcio" and describes it as "an atypical evening of football."

This novel approach to pre‑season is not unprecedented. In 2002, for example, Barça last took part in a similar competition with another Italian club, Parma, and Dutch side Ajax, although those matches were 90 minutes long and played over multiple days. The Emirates Cup, hosted by Arsenal, is another example of a triangular tournament played over the course of a weekend.

Perhaps the most similar competition to Saturday’s Friuli Venezia Giulia Cup that Barça have participated in took place in 2001. On that occasion, Barça organized a triangular tournament with Espanyol and Real Sociedad that consisted of three 30‑minute matches, culminating with the Blaugrana winning the competition after a draw with La Real and victory over Espanyol.