"UEFA Coach of the Year for the 2010–2011 season, Gao Shen!"
When Platini stood on stage and loudly announced Gao Shen's name, the entire Grimaldi Forum suddenly erupted in thunderous applause. Many attendees even stood up and clapped enthusiastically.
Among them were the Manchester City players seated nearby.
Even though he had already known the result and was mentally prepared, Gao Shen was still quite emotional in that moment.
As he stood up, he immediately turned and embraced Su Qing beside him. Then, he waved to the Manchester City players in the distance, bowed deeply to the audience, and quickly made his way to the stage.
"Congratulations, Gao!" Platini handed him the trophy with both hands.
"Thank you." Gao Shen accepted it and hugged Platini politely.
Standing before the microphone on the podium, the usually eloquent Gao Shen suddenly found himself at a loss for words.
"I need a moment to compose myself," he admitted.
Another round of enthusiastic applause followed.
"This is the first major professional award of my coaching career. I'm very grateful to UEFA and to Michel!"
Gao Shen had met Platini several times before and often called him Michel in private.
"We've achieved some incredible results over the past two years, like the club's first-ever Premier League title, our unbeaten run last season, and the Treble. But these achievements belong to the players and the staff. Without them, none of this would've been possible."
As soon as he finished, the audience broke into warm applause again.
"The Champions League is an extremely difficult competition. Winning the title is challenging for any team. I'm very happy that we spent two years working tirelessly to accomplish this goal."
"I want to thank all the players who currently play or have played for Manchester City, especially our current first-team squad. They're all top professionals, incredibly dedicated, and I'm proud of them."
"I also want to thank my staff, including Fernando Lucas, Rodolfo Borrell, and Sarri, who have since left, as well as all my assistants. Only with their support have I been able to manage the team effectively."
"I want to thank the club owner Sheikh Mansour, chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak, the CEO, the rest of the management, staff, and employees. The team's success comes from the silent, collective efforts of everyone behind the scenes."
"I know many people say we're a team built with money, but I want to take this opportunity to tell everyone: Manchester City's success isn't just about money."
"I hope in the coming season, we can prove that with even greater and more brilliant achievements!"
Finally, as Gao Shen bowed deeply, the audience erupted again in thunderous applause and cheers.
Three Champions League titles!
Gao Shen was unquestionably deserving of the honor.
More importantly, no one doubted that he and his Manchester City side were capable of continuing their dominance.
Gao Shen claimed the Coach of the Year award, but in the Player of the Year voting, Suárez unfortunately lost to Messi.
This was actually within expectations.
Superstars like Messi and Ronaldo are always the focus of the major teams and media.
While Manchester City performed excellently on the pitch, in terms of producing global stars, they still lagged behind traditional powerhouses.
One could even argue that with Manchester City's performance last season, had they been with Real Madrid or Barcelona, they would have taken the top three places in the Player of the Year voting. They certainly wouldn't have missed out entirely.
But this is the reality.
In this regard, Manchester City is indeed not on par with the traditional giants.
Of course, Messi's numbers were beyond dispute. Fifty-three goals and twenty-four assists in one season—an outstanding record on its own.
Suárez beat Ronaldo to finish second in the final round of voting.
That was at least some consolation.
After the awards ceremony, the draw began.
Before the draw started, Kompany, captain of the reigning champions Manchester City, walked on stage holding the Big Ears trophy.
This is a fixed segment of the ceremony every year.
Then, before the draw officially began, UEFA displayed the current European points and rankings of the 32 Champions League group stage participants on the big screen.
An incident had occurred prior to this season's Champions League group stage.
In July, thirty individuals in Turkey were accused of match-fixing across the top two divisions last season. Among them was Fenerbahçe chairman Aziz Yıldırım.
Fenerbahçe were last season's league champions, but the Turkish FA stripped them of their Champions League qualification, awarding the spot to runners-up Trabzonspor.
This caused some controversy, and Fenerbahçe filed a complaint against the Turkish FA with UEFA.
But the matter was quickly settled, and Trabzonspor officially replaced them in the competition.
However, the Turkish teams were not the main focus.
What really drew attention was the team ranked lowest in the second pot: Real Madrid from La Liga. That was a real shock.
After all, Real Madrid boasts one of the most luxurious squads in world football.
But that wasn't even the most shocking part.
The third pot included the reigning Champions League winners, Manchester City.
The fourth pot had the Bundesliga champions, Dortmund.
That was outrageous.
Many people speculated that, given the current structure, Manchester City and Dortmund were both bound to land in a group of death. The only suspense was whether they'd end up in the same group.
And honestly, the probability was quite high.
Among the eight groups, Bayern and Leverkusen were already assigned to Pot 1 and Pot 3 respectively. That meant if Manchester City didn't land in Bayern's group, they had a high chance of ending up in Dortmund's group.
Because many overlooked how same-nation avoidance affected the draw.
In other words, once you were in Pot 3 or Pot 4, you were at a big disadvantage in the draw.
The guest for the Pot 1 draw was Figo. He had the easiest job, simply placing the eight seeded teams into eight groups.
For Pot 2, it was Bobby Charlton. Again, not much pressure.
But when it came to Pot 3, things got tense.
Zenit, Ajax, Leverkusen, Lille—none of these teams were pushovers.
But the one team everyone wanted to avoid most was Manchester City.
And among the eight groups already drawn, apart from Porto, the rest were filled with giants from the top four leagues.
The group Gao Shen least wanted was the one with Barcelona and Napoli.
That would be a nightmare.
"If we actually get drawn into Group H with Dortmund, holy hell, that'd be insane!" Gao Shen leaned toward Su Qing and whispered with a chuckle.
That would be absolutely brutal.
To have all four teams be reigning league champions? That's a death sentence.
"No way, really?" Su Qing frowned.
"Look at Pot 3. Lille can't be drawn against Lyon or Marseille. We can't be drawn against United, Chelsea, or Liverpool. That doesn't leave us with many options."
Su Qing, a top student, understood instantly after Gao Shen pointed it out.
"If we really draw Barcelona and Napoli…" Su Qing smiled bitterly.
Gao Shen gave a wry smile. If it really came to that, there'd be nothing he could do.
Fortunately, his luck was better this time.
The first team from Pot 3 drawn by Gullit was BATE Borisov from Belarus. They landed in the group with Barcelona and Napoli.
But as Gullit continued drawing teams, Gao Shen's expression grew more serious.
He realized Manchester City's options were rapidly disappearing.
Bayern and Villarreal? Or Porto and Real Madrid?
"No way we're facing Real Madrid in the group stage two seasons in a row, right?" Gao Shen muttered.
The remaining two groups both had Premier League teams and thus couldn't include Manchester City.
Gullit soon pulled out Manchester City's ball and placed them in Group D.
With Porto and Real Madrid!
Gao Shen couldn't help but laugh bitterly. He turned and saw Valdano a few rows back, whose face had also darkened.
Enemies always cross paths.
It was worth noting that Porto would also be Manchester City's opponent in the upcoming UEFA Super Cup.
Last season, Villas-Boas led Porto to win both the Europa League and the Portuguese league.
Well, now they'd be facing each other again in the group stage. What a coincidence.
Real Madrid, however, was the bigger concern.
"This is trouble," Gao Shen muttered with a bitter smile and shook his head.
The remaining teams in Pot 4 were all from weaker footballing nations, but since Bayern and Leverkusen were already in separate groups, Dortmund had a one-in-six chance of being drawn into Manchester City's group.
Not high, but definitely not low.
The guest draw for Pot 4 was German legend Lothar Matthäus. His first draw was for Dortmund.
The audience collectively held their breath.
He went straight for the highlight. The tension was real.
After removing the groups containing Bayern and Leverkusen, Matthäus stirred the six remaining balls in the jar.
He showed his palm to the audience, reached in, and quickly pulled one out.
When it was opened, the letter on the note made everyone gasp.
D!
Gao Shen bitterly smiled and covered his mouth with his hand, completely speechless.
He even started to suspect this whole draw was rigged by UEFA.
How else do you explain Manchester City getting drawn into Real Madrid's group two years in a row?
And both times ending up in groups of death?
Even if you get lucky with one of the Pot 4 teams, fine.
But no, this time it's Klopp's Dortmund. A nightmare matchup.
Everyone knows how tough it is to play against Dortmund.
"I'm starting to think this draw was fixed," Su Qing said to Gao Shen with a bitter smile.
Gao Shen nodded repeatedly. Wasn't he thinking the same thing?
Porto, Real Madrid, Manchester City, and Borussia Dortmund.
Champions of the Portuguese league, Premier League, and Bundesliga, plus La Liga's runner-up.
And more importantly, all four teams had won the Champions League.
Who would believe there was no foul play involved?
Honestly, a little corruption would be easier to swallow.
Otherwise, Gao Shen really couldn't accept how bad his luck had become.
This was a damn setup!
(To be continued.)