Juventus: Are the Bianconeri the Saviors of Italy's Serie A?

On Sunday, the long road back to prominence for Juventus finally reached its end. Their 2-0 win against Cagliari, combined with A.C. Milan's 4-2 loss in the Derby della Madonnina against Inter, gave them a four point lead with one game left to play.

The joy in the Juve locker room was palpable. Key players like Alessandro Del Piero, Gianluigi Buffon, and Claudio Marchisio, all of whom stuck with the team when they were forcibly relegated to Serie B and stripped of their last two scudetti in the wake of 2006's calciopoli match fixing scandal, were visibly emotional after having their loyalty and faith in the team finally rewarded.

After a false-start of a return to Serie A in which they finished third and second in their first two seasons back in the top flight, they crashed out of the UEFA Champions League in the 2009-10 season, then finished seventh in the Serie A. 2010-11 was even worse: they were eliminated from the Europa League in the group stage, and tumbled to another seventh place finish.

But this season has been a breakthrough. Former Juve captain Antonio Conte returned to the club as manager. Initially ridiculed as tactically naive for his supposed 4-2-4 (more accurately a modified 4-4-2), Conte has shown through shrewd transfer moves and great tactical decisions that he is one of Europe's up-and-coming managers. He has guided Juve to their 28th official championship and has them on the cusp of a double with the Coppa Italia final against Napoli on May 20.

It is a season that has the potential to be absolutely historic. Should they avoid defeat in their victory lap at the Juventus Stadium against Atalanta, they will be the first team to go unbeaten since the Serie A expanded from 18 teams to 20 in 2004.

But this incredible season may not be monumental just for Juventus. Their rebirth may end up signaling a resurgence for Italian soccer as a whole.

Juve's first trip to the UEFA Champions League since the 09-10 crash-out could turn out to be pivotal for the Serie A. Considered a dying league since calciopoli rocked its best teams in 2006, Serie A lost its #3 place in the UEFA coefficient ranking two seasons ago, losing a Champions League place to Germany. Despite Milan and Inter lifting the trophy in the years since the scandal, Italy's teams have not performed well in European competition—particularly in the Europa League, which unfortunately is looked on as a nuisance by Italian clubs rather than a legitimate competition.

But Juve may be a catalyst of change. They already have a solid foundation for their team. They boast the best defense in Europe, and have a solid midfield led by the trio of Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, and Andrea Pirlo.  While their final touch was sometimes lacking, word out of Turin is that Conte may have the money to go after players rated as high as 35 million Euros—more than enough to sign a top-of-the-line striker like Robin van Persie, Carlos Tevez, or Luis Suarez.

It is that financial power—and how Juve is going to get it—that may bring the Serie A back into prominence. This year, the Juventus Stadium, a 120 million Euro soccer palace, was opened on the site of the old and unpopular Stadio delle Alpi. It was a watershed moment for Italian soccer—the bianconeri became the first Italian team to own their own stadium rather than play in a stadium owned by the city they play in.

The combination of not having to pay a municipal government rent for their stadium and the ability to reap 100% of the revenues from the stadium can make Juventus the financial powerhouse of Italy for the foreseeable future, and make them competitive with the Middle-Eastern and Asian conglomerates that have been buying teams like Manchester City and PSG. The added revenue of Champions League games will make them even more money.

The construction of the Juventus Stadium could trigger a chain reaction across Italy. In late September—only weeks after Juve moved into their new ground—Roma owner Thomas DiBenedetto announced an agreement with the city government of Rome that would have them moving out of the Stadio Olimpico and into a new, team-owned stadium in time for the start of the 2014-15 season.  

Teams like Palermo and Cagliari—who have recently moved home games to Trieste in protest of the crumbling condition of the Stadio Sant'Elia—have also announced plans to build stadiums on their own, and both Milan teams have put forward the idea of either moving away from the San Siro or buying it from the city of Milan to initiate further renovations.

Juventus' title—and new stadium—may mark the beginning of a new era for Italian soccer.  Whether this new era will truly come to pass will be seen in the years to come as Juve uses the new revenue gleaned from the Juventus Stadium to solidify their return to the top of both Serie A and Europe.

As much as Milan and Inter fans hate to admit, a strong Juventus is key to the future success of Italian soccer—as is the example that they have shown the rest of the country just how powerful ownership of their own ground can be.