Italian Soccer League

Even after securing a fourth straight Serie A championship the arguments will roll on as to whether Juventus has won 33 Italian Championships or 31. But what is not in doubt is that The Old Lady is once again the dominant side in Italian soccer.

Straddling the Italian game is not what it used to be but for the first time in almost a decade there are signs that Italian teams are re-emerging as legitimate forces in European competition.

On Thursday, Napoli plays Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Fiorentina faces Sevilla in the two semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League. On Tuesday, Juventus hosts defending champion Real Madrid in a semi-final of the UEFA Champions League.

The combined effort means that Italian clubs have stemmed the downward spiral that cost the league a third automatic Champions spot in 2011 although it will take another stellar performance next season to threaten the additional benefit enjoyed by the Bundesliga and the Premier League.

This is the furthest Juventus has progressed in European competition since they finished as runners-up to Milan in the 2003 Champions League.

But the Juventus story over the last decade or so encompasses a lot more than European failure. In 2006, after being found guilty of attempting to unduly influence match officials in the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus were relegated to Serie B and stripped of two Serie A titles.

The road back to the top of Italian soccer has been a bumpy one but along the way Juventus made a crucial strategic decision that will almost certainly maintain its position in the Forbes list of the world’s most valuable clubs for years to come.