Every year at the end of August, Monaco became the focus of football fans around the world.
The annual Champions League group-stage draw and UEFA awards ceremony were held at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco.
Su Dong had received UEFA's invitation very early on. Later, afraid that he might not want to attend, UEFA invited him through Man City's management, Messi, Xavi, and others. Platini had even called him personally to invite him to the grand event.
The Champions League had clearly lost much of its luster without Su Dong last season. Now that Su Dong had returned, he naturally became a major focus of the Champions League's publicity, as well as the center of attention for media and fans around the world.
This was the first time in Man City's history that they had participated in the Champions League.
A newly promoted team winning the title had always been one of the most celebrated myths in world football.
The most frequently mentioned example was Kaiserslautern of the Bundesliga. That was mainly because it was the most recent case. In the late 1990s, led by manager Rehhagel, Kaiserslautern created the myth of a newly promoted team winning the title.
The Premier League had never seen such a precedent, but before the Premier League was established, English League One had witnessed it twice.
In 1961, Ipswich, led by legendary manager Alaff Ramsey, were promoted to English League One. In 1962, they miraculously won the English League One title, creating the first instance in the history of England's top division of a newly promoted team becoming champions.
Fifteen years later, Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest repeated the myth. This time, Clough went even further. After winning the English League One title, Nottingham Forest represented the division in the Champions League and, in their