This season's Champions League final was scheduled to take place at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.
This world-class stadium, which had dazzled the world during the World Cup, was finally welcoming a world-class club competition.
As the representative of Bayern Munich, Breitner became the guest of honor.
Moreover, UEFA had introduced major changes to this year's awards ceremony by abolishing the positional awards of the past.
In other words, Best Goalkeeper, Best Defender, Best Midfielder, and Best Forward had all been canceled. Only Best Player remained, and in cooperation with the European Sports Media Alliance, UEFA had introduced the European Best Player award.
The selection rules were actually the same as before. Football journalists from fifty-three countries and regions would vote, with the first round producing the top three candidates. Then, at the venue, the fifty-three journalists would vote once more among those three candidates to determine the rankings.
There was one particularly interesting detail. Before the draw, as was customary, a representative of the previous Champions League winner had to enter the stage carrying the trophy, and this was usually done by the captain.
Thus, Puyol casually walked onto the stage in a yellow T-shirt, gray plaid shorts, and leisurewear, carrying the solemn and sacred Big Ears Cup amid the laughter and even heckling of the entire audience.
In fact, everyone present was involved in football, and many of them knew one another well. They found Puyol's behavior more amusing than anything else, thinking that the guy had completely overturned convention.
Of course, some people might have felt that he had damaged his image, since he represented Barcelona at a time like this.
Regardless, the atmosphere at the venue was extremely lively.
The group-stage draw began first.
The teams were divided into four tiers according to their