A natural event that has greatly affected man in recent times has been the 2010 volcanic eruptions in Iceland. The Eyjafjallajokul, as it is called, sent ash into the skies over Europe on April 14. This eruption caused a massive disruption to flights in and out of Europe with the closure of several airports. It was reported that several thousand flights were canceled leaving millions of passengers stranded around the world.

Little did many know that Eyjafjallajokul was an event whose object was the first leg of the semi-final between FC Barcelona of Spain and Inter Milan of Italy. The volcanic eruption made the former his target with the aim of wearing him down and creating an advantage for the locals. The first leg was scheduled to take place in Italy, and given the tight football schedule, the match had to go ahead as planned. Time constraints meant that the visitors had to drive to Milan, a trip that had psychologically exhausting consequences for the traveling team. The result was that Barcelona lost the match and was eliminated from the competition.

Eyjafjallajokul happened mainly for historical reasons. Its cause, the motor of the eruptions, was nevertheless philosophical. The historical factor behind this event had already been developed in the article The Philosophy of the UEFA Champions League. The philosophical aspect had been thoroughly detailed in my book The Philosophy of the Cosmos.

According to The Philosophy of the Cosmos, the origins of the universe began when incorporeal entities called abstract imparted their force to some matter in the material universe. The abstracts are spirit, soul, air, mind, consciousness, reason and ideas. The objects brought into existence are cosmic bodies, plants, animals, and man. These constitute the real. There is also the material that is rocks, mountains, etc. Therefore, the cosmos is classified into abstract, real and material. These abstracts that caused evolution and their objects continue to subsist in them.

In The UEFA Champions League Philosophy, those abstracts that are still part of the universe developed with man, specific traits or characteristics due to certain circumstances in the past. For example, the people of Ijebu Ode acquired the traits of intelligence, organization, and business enterprise through centuries of maneuvering with non-military options for their survival. Those intelligence traits have become fixed and permanent even when people no longer engage in the activities that engendered the traits. The point where activities lead to these traits is the metaphysical. This is where the traits begin to flow naturally continuing the generational transfer that those activities also went through.

In Europe’s premier club competition, the decades of existence of the European Cup represent Ijebu Ode’s centuries of maneuvering to survive with non-military options, while the UEFA Champions League is the fixed, permanent and irreversible period of developed traits of intelligence and organization of the Ijebu Ode people. The introduction of the UEFA Champions League in 1992 is the metaphysical point of the European Cup era from 1956 to 1992.

For the UEFA Champions League, the metaphysics formed is based on the historical background of the participating leagues and clubs. It is based on historical precedence. This rule began to take shape in 2000 when La Liga leveled Serie A and the Premier League for its ninth European silver medal. The rule formally came into effect in 2002 when La Liga won its tenth European Cup. From that year to date, neither Serie A has surpassed La Liga nor the Premier League has surpassed Serie A. This was exactly the reason why Eyjafjallajokul threw his ashes into European airspace in 2010.

Real Madrid was the first club to win the European Cup in 1956. They won the trophy consecutively for five years. No other club in European football has ever accomplished a feat close to this. FC Barcelona won the trophy once in the European Cup era. The club lagged behind teams like Bayern Munich and Liverpool that clinched the treble in the European Cup. In 2009 FC Barcelona won the UEFA Champions League. Approximately 6 months later, the club had claimed all the trophies they were competing for. Thus, in 2010 Guardiola’s men undertook the task of becoming the first club in the club to retain him. It was this Barcelona goal that caused the Eyjafjallajokul to spew ash into the sky. Eyjafjallajokul happened because of the message underlying the rule of precedence which for Barcelona says You cannot be in the present what you have not been in the past. The importance of this message is that Barcelona does not have the pedigree to defend the cup. That only Real Madrid had such a pedigree. Therefore, only the Madrid that boasts that pedigree in Europe could achieve such a feat. Hence the eruption of the volcano.

What Barcelona tried and failed to achieve from 2010 to 2012 was what Real Madrid tried and achieved from 2016 to 2018. Barcelona encountered obstacles not at Inter Milan and Chelsea, who were mere instruments of execution, but at Real Madrid. That Barcelona collectively failed with their managerial acumen, team ethic and exceptional talents all in their prime, while Real Madrid, in the last round of their back-to-back treble, successfully overcame all their opponents in the knockout phase with the help of a series of highly consistent fortunes never before enjoyed by any club in history tells the whole story: Barcelona’s troubles and Madrid’s triumph were contrived and planned.

An inexplicable result of a game in the 2017/2018 season that had an indirect influence on Real Madrid’s eventual victory was the 3-0 thrashing of Barcelona in Rome. AS Roma’s elimination of FC Barcelona from the 2017/2018 Champions League helped avoid a potential clash with Real Madrid that could have resulted in near-certain defeat for the eventual champions. This Roma elimination also has much bigger implications for Barcelona in the near future. The defeat in Rome meant that Liverpool escaped from a possible meeting with Barcelona. The resurgence and appearance of Liverpool in the final augurs a worrying development for Barcelona. Since on a head-to-head basis, Liverpool won the last game in the first knockout series of the 2006/2007 season, therefore Barcelona would have had a semi-final clash with Liverpool in their favour.

The problem that Roma’s victory and Liverpool’s rise has brought to light is that the problems Barcelona faced from 2010 to 2012 that caused Eyjafjallajokul to create an advantage for Inter Milan are about to rear their ugly head once again. The fact is that Liverpool and Barcelona are currently on five European titles each. Together with Bayern Munich, this trio make up three of the teams that have won five titles at the highest level in European football. Liverpool and Bayern Munich made trebles out of their five-times in the European Cup era. Both had golden times in club football prior to that of Barcelona.

The English and German clubs have a pedigree that Barcelona does not possess and cannot boast. Real Madrid also had its golden age in its beginnings that precedes all clubs. The precedence of Real Madrid’s golden age was the factor why Barcelona failed to prosper in Europe between 2009 and 2012, just as Madrid did between 2014 and 2018. With Liverpool and Bayern Munich now in the tail of European glory, Barcelona are about to face the exact situation of 2010 when Eyjafjallajokul went on a rampage in Europe.

Barcelona’s problems in Europe are mainly with Liverpool and Bayern Munich. These are the obstacles to the success of Catalan in Europe. The precedence rule at club level means Barcelona will be behind Liverpool and Bayern Munich for their sixth European title. But, at league level, Serie A and the Premier League are currently tied for 12 European trophies each, meaning Juventus will be first to European glory, followed by Liverpool after. Poised to win ahead of Liverpool though, Juventus still face formidable opposition from the reigning champions. However, this threat has dissipated with the signing of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo’s case is enough to explain how man could, in a peculiar situation, through sustained activity, acquire the metaphysics necessary for extraordinary achievements. Ronaldo accepted the challenge created by Messi’s comparison of who was the best in the world. To do this, he crossed over to Spain in the summer of 2009 to show that he is the best player. He remembers the 40 goals from his debut in the Spanish top flight. After years of intensifying rivalry, he would actually acquire the powers that be the force behind 4 Champions League titles in less than 5 years.

No longer at Real Madrid, Ronaldo’s departure has created a void, metaphysically with which he carried Real Madrid’s European Cup pedigree in recent years. And he will soon be displaying this metaphysical force in Turin, where there is a strong pedigree from the Serie A of the European Cup that Juventus are currently in.

When Ronaldo’s metaphysical strength is combined with Serie A’s storied background, a spark will be ignited that will create the momentum needed for glory in 2019. It is this combination of philosophical and historical factors that will make it easier for Juventus to overcome their opponents in the 2018/2019 edition of the Champions League.

In addition to Real Madrid, the next few years are important for the fans, managers, players and coaches of PSG, Barcelona, ​​Bayern Munich, Liverpool, Manchester City and Juventus in the UEFA Champions League. It is important for clubs that yearn for continental glory. The next few years, too, particularly the next three, are of great importance for metaphysics and philosophy. Using the Champions League as a laboratory, the course of the next three editions will help demonstrate that metaphysics is a global phenomenon. What exists in reality; that there are metaphysical forces in the universe; that both the Eyjafjallajokul and the Grimsvotn occurred at the instigation of and as a consequence of communication between the metaphysical forces of the world; that both volcanic eruptions had Barcelona as their object; that the metaphysical forces of the Champions League never wanted Barcelona to win the 2011 edition and; that the order of Juventus, Liverpool and, to some extent, Bayern Munich as victors of the yet-to-start Champions League, with FC Barcelona having to queue up behind them before their next continental glory, will help substantiate the fact that Eyjafjallajokul had the Catalan giants as their main target.