Juve only draw but continue to show Serie A the way forward

Juve 2 - 2 Genoa was the final score in Turin tonight after a cracking game ended all square. Juve were sublime at times going forward, Andrea Pirlo rolling back the years with inspirational contributions to both goals, from the quickly taken corner that found Marchisio on the first goal where Matri fired home to the simply majestic dummy that let Matri again hit the back of the net. Juve looked set for the win but Genoa continued to advance forward, much through the inspired play of Milan owned Alex Merkel and drew level late on through a Caracciolo equaliser. Shambolic defending and poor goalkeeping led to Juve's demise in this encounter and in the end a point was all they could take from this one.

With this in mind you may wonder what on earth the title to this article is on about. Despite going top of Serie A, albeit temporarily, tonight was a disappointment for the home side before they go on a run of games that sees them take on Fiorentina, Inter, Napoli, Palermo and Lazio. Hardly an easy run and two draws on the trot has taken the sting out of their blistering start. But, irregardless Juve this season with their new Stadium have shown the rest of Serie A what they need to do to modernise and essentially revolutionise the league.

Juventus so far this campaign have had an average attendance of 36,293. It's not huge by any stretch and only ranks sixth overall in Serie A but it is a massive improvement on their gates from last season which culminated in an average of 21,966. You could argue it has been the difference between a great start and a poor one as well. Last season at the Stadio Olimpico Juventus lost at home to Milan, Parma and Bologna, their first three home games. This season they took seven points from those same encounters instead and the crowd played their part in these fixtures as well, becoming the the essential 12th man that had been missed and the frankly limp and lifeless Olimpico in recent seasons passed. Much of course has to be attributed to a decent Summer mercato. But, their is a freshness around this club that could well take them out of the doldrums, which undoubtedly the last two campaigns have been and their is no doubt that the new Stadium is part of this.

But how does this relate to the rest of Serie A? Well aside from the revenue opportunities that a self own Stadium would provide new stadia for the other clubs would have massive knock on effects for game day attendances which so far this season are at an average of just under 24,000. This will increase as the season goes on and games become more vital to the campaigns final outcome, but it is fair to say that this number has not been helped by teams like Chievo, Lecce, Novara and Siena who barely pull in an average of more than 10,000 a game and in that regard the sooner the likes of Torino and Sampdoria come back to Serie A the better. But, for the likes of Fiorentina, Lazio, Palermo, Roma and Cagliari, teams who have been trying to build new stadia for some time, the impact could be huge. Indeed, such has the delay been in the case of the Viola that they have considered building a new Stadium out of the city limits itself. 

Much of the problem has to do with current legislative restrictions and the frustration that local Council's in Italy will miss out on revenue generated by their currently owned Stadiums. But, the sooner the other clubs are able to follow the path that Juventus have then the better off they will be, and the better off the league will be too.