Although Gao Shen has won three Champions League titles, he has never actually attended any UEFA awards ceremony.
He even missed out on the major FIFA awards.
Yes, although he has appeared on FIFA and UEFA's official websites countless times, and has accepted interviews and recognition from both authoritative associations, he has never received an official award from them.
Because the FIFA Men's Coach of the Year award was only established in 2010.
It was officially introduced after Gao Shen had already won his second Champions League title in 2009.
This made things quite awkward.
When the FIFA Men's Coach of the Year award was launched, many people believed that even though Gao Shen hadn't coached a World Cup team or won the Champions League that year, he still deserved the honor.
But in the end, the award went to Del Bosque, who led Spain to win the World Cup, not Guardiola, who won the Champions League.
As for Gao Shen, who led Manchester City to their first league title in history, he wasn't even nominated.
Now, Gao Shen has led Manchester City to win the Champions League, becoming the only active head coach with three Champions League titles. Almost everyone believes that there's no doubt he'll win FIFA's Coach of the Year award this time.
But just then, UEFA stepped in.
…
As everyone knows, since last year, FIFA's World Player of the Year and the Ballon d'Or, originally founded by France Football, were merged into the FIFA Ballon d'Or, leaving a gap in the European-specific awards landscape.
Previously, UEFA's annual awards were position-based: best goalkeeper, best defender, best midfielder, best forward, and finally best player. These were segmented awards. The most prestigious Best Player award was seen as a strong predictor for the Ballon d'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year, which shows its significance.
But after the merger of the Ballon d'Or and FIFA's award, UEFA saw an opportunity. In cooperation with the European Sports Media Association, they decided to revamp their awards ceremony. The original segmented position-based awards were scrapped, replaced with a newly created European Best Player award.
As the name implies, this award recognizes the best-performing players in Europe and in European leagues over the past season.
The voting system involves football journalists from 53 European countries and regions. The first round of voting produces a top-three shortlist, followed by a second round of live voting to determine the final rankings.
But that's not all. UEFA also introduced a Best Coach award.
And everyone knows that, in the past season, Gao Shen—who led Manchester City to a treble and equaled the great Manchester United dynasty—is undoubtedly the top favorite, if not the only contender.
His main rival was Guardiola, who lost to Gao Shen's Manchester City in the Champions League final.
In other words, Gao Shen had virtually no competition.
This has even been jokingly referred to by the media as an award UEFA created specifically for top managers like him.
…
The media can hype it up, but Gao Shen doesn't let it get to his head.
Although he received a call from Platini and was almost certain to win the award, and so attended the ceremony with his fiancée Su Qing, he still remained humble.
When the team arrived in Monaco, all Manchester City players wore formal suits provided by the club.
Gao Shen's sponsor, Kiton, sent a custom-made suit directly from Italy to Monaco for him.
This Italian brand from Naples has greatly benefited from its partnership with Gao Shen. With strong momentum in its development, it focuses exclusively on high-end bespoke tailoring.
Manchester City arrived in Monaco around noon and checked into the hotel prepared by UEFA.
Gao Shen spent the afternoon trying on his suit, while Su Qing tried on a gown sponsored by a Chinese designer.
The two would be attending the awards ceremony together that evening.
The entire Manchester City squad would also attend, with Kompany representing the Champions League titleholders by holding the Big Ears trophy.
Everyone was looking forward to it.
Aside from Gao Shen's certain win for Coach of the Year, Luis Suárez was also shortlisted for Player of the Year.
Among the top three from the first-round vote, Suárez, Messi, and Ronaldo all had strong fanbases, but Suárez and Messi led in support.
Suárez stood out for his high goal tally, and for helping Manchester City win the treble, including defeating Messi's Barcelona in the Champions League final.
But Messi had the most eye-catching stat: 53 goals for Barcelona last season.
Due to Manchester City's advanced squad rotation system, Suárez's goal count was noticeably lower than Messi's.
So, the final result remained unpredictable.
…
The awards and draw ceremony began at 5:45 p.m.
By 7 p.m., staff had come to escort the guests.
Gao Shen and Su Qing were already dressed and ready.
Su Qing wore a simple yet elegant champagne-colored gown. Its mesh and tulle details highlighted her graceful figure. Her exposed shoulders and neckline added a touch of allure, while the custom diamond necklace from a jewelry company further enhanced her ethereal elegance.
Even the seasoned image designers, used to working with models and celebrities, were full of praise.
"You look absolutely stunning tonight," Gao Shen said sincerely.
Su Qing's cheeks turned slightly pink, making her look even more radiant, though her heart felt warm and her gaze affectionate.
"Let's go." Gao Shen said proudly, walking over and bending his left arm.
Su Qing gave a soft hum and gently took his arm.
The two stepped out together.
…
Night fell.
Media reporters and fans from around the world had already gathered outside the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
The conference center faces the sea to the north and east, with a triangular Japanese garden to the south. To the west, a single road separates it from the National Museum of Monaco, and a cycling track runs alongside the road.
At this moment, the red carpet extended from the entrance of the Grimaldi Forum to the roadside.
On either side of the cycling track, media reporters stood shoulder to shoulder, cameras and equipment at the ready.
Fans lined up across the street, facing the red carpet and the conference center's main entrance.
When the limousine carrying Gao Shen slowly came to a stop at the red carpet, the live commentator had already called out his name.
All the reporters instantly perked up, and the fans across the street became visibly excited, chanting "Gao Shen!"
A concierge stepped forward and opened the door.
As Gao Shen stepped out in his sharp black suit, the clicking of cameras erupted in a frenzy.
He politely greeted the reporters and fans, then quickly circled around the car to open the door for his fiancée.
The crowd gasped in surprise.
Su Qing reached out with her right hand and gently held onto Gao Shen's left arm. The two walked side by side onto the red carpet.
"Here we see Gao Shen, the strongest contender for this year's Coach of the Year award, making his entrance."
"Beside him is his beautiful fiancée."
"By the way, she's also the chairman of Leeds United in the English Championship, so she's involved in professional football herself."
"A perfect match, truly."
Gao Shen and Su Qing didn't need to force anything. Their steps naturally matched.
When they reached the entrance of the conference center, staff led them inside.
"Did you hear their surprised reactions?" Gao Shen joked as they stepped in.
Su Qing already knew what he was thinking and didn't answer immediately.
"They're all envious of me," Gao Shen said with a hint of pride.
Su Qing tightened her grip on his arm.
"I think more people envy me."
"Really?" Gao Shen grinned even wider.
…
This was actually Gao Shen's first time attending a high-profile evening event like this.
He had been to similar events before, but never anything quite so grand.
He felt slightly excited.
As soon as he entered, all eyes turned to him.
Everyone in European football knows that Gao Shen is currently the only manager in the world to have won three Champions League titles.
Even more impressive, he led three different teams to those championships.
That achievement is truly unmatched.
For any ambitious club, Gao Shen will be a name they cannot ignore when choosing a manager in the future—especially since he's not even 31 years old.
Yes, he won't turn 31 for a few more days.
Judging by Sir Alex Ferguson's career, Gao Shen could continue to dominate world football for another 40 years.
It's a daunting thought.
Despite this being his first time at such an elite gathering, he already had many friends in the room.
For instance, Napoli's general manager Marino was the first to come up and greet him. They had worked together for three years in Naples and knew each other well.
There were also football insiders he hadn't worked with directly, but had frequent contact with: Bayern's Hoeness, Barcelona's Rosell, Juventus's Andrea Agnelli, and AC Milan's Galliani.
These are some of the most influential figures in European football.
Gao Shen also wanted Su Qing to become more familiar with this high-level circle, so he welcomed everyone and chatted briefly with them.
Everyone knew that Su Qing was the chairman of Leeds United and Gao Shen's fiancée.
Ever since Gao Shen took over Leeds United, the consensus was that they were a Premier League team in waiting.
It might take one season or several, but promotion was inevitable.
After all, Gao Shen had her back.
Many even believed that Gao Shen had disassembled his core team for Leeds United's benefit.
Lucas, Borrell, and Sarri—key members of his coaching staff—were now all at Leeds.
Under Sarri's leadership, Leeds United had won five straight matches.
In addition to four consecutive league wins, they had also played a League Cup match on August 9, beating fourth-tier Bradford 3–0 at home.
Now, many clubs looking to change managers were watching Sarri closely.
Gao Shen wasn't just good at developing players, but also great at developing coaches.
From Guardiola to Zidane, and now Sarri—not to mention the younger generation of European coaches like Klopp, Tuchel, and Pochettino, all of whom have been deeply influenced by his tactical philosophy and have gone on to achieve great coaching success.
(To be continued.)