This season in Italy’s Serie A there was a new Scudetto winner for the first time since Calciopoli. Led by the young genius of Max Allegri, with a combination of starlets, genuine stars and the ever present veterans, Milan marched towards their 18th title in impressive fashion after retaining pole position for the best part of the season.

It was a triumph well deserved and that marks the end of Inter’s hegemony of the Serie A and perhaps the start of a new and successful cycle at Milan. It was not easily won, however, in contrast to Inter’s previous Scudetto successes when Roma were really the only other genuine contenders though even their credentials at the time were debatable.

Napoli provided strong competition for nearly the breadth of the season while Lazio threatened to be contenders after showing to be the early season pacesetters. Then, of course, Inter fought back remarkably under former Milan boss Leonardo to become challengers after a disastrous first half of the season.

It was one of the most competitive and exciting Serie A seasons in recent memory. As much as it may mark a new era for the Champions, Milan, it may also signal the start of a brighter period for Italian football in general.

Milan were undoubtedly the strongest team over the stretch of the season and this was thanks to the number of key signings the club made last summer and during the January transfer window. This summer the club is intent on further strengthening their squad in order to challenge for the top prize in Europe, the Champions League. With a few extra additions, this is highly possible.

While Milan continue to build an even stronger side, Inter and Napoli, the two sides that pushed them the furthest during the campaign will also be looking to either to, at least, maintain or strengthen their competitiveness.

For certain Inter will endeavour to bridge the gap between them and their city rivals with an injection of a few new players to freshen up their squad.

Napoli, the best supported club in Southern Italy, will attempt to do the same though for them it may prove a more difficult task. The club do seem on the right track, however, after securing the services of their prolific striker and talisman Edison Cavani for another five seasons. Yet, whether Napoli can again be a force in Serie A whilst also participating in the Champions League will depend on whether they can keep their stars like Lavezzi and Hamsik and, in addition, add some needed depth to their squad.

What is certain, next season both Inter and Milan will be stronger. This is not only a positive for the league, but, hopefully Italy will be better represented in the Champions League as a result. It should not be hard for this to happen after the embarrassing Italian campaign of the season just passed.

Napoli’s Champions League prospects depend on what occurs over the summer in terms of who comes in and who leaves. Importantly, the debacle as to whether Walter Mazzari was to remain the team’s coach is over and the club can now focus on their strategy for the summer transfer season.

While Inter, Milan and Napoli are capable of being formidable forces in Europe next season, Udinese are not.

The Zebrette surely exceeded even their own expectations by claiming fourth spot and, hence, the last Champions League place for the Serie A. This season just finished is the last that the Serie A will be afforded a fourth spot for the Champions League. In truth, it would have been better for Calcio if either Juventus or Roma claimed it.

Udinese have never in their history achieved much on the European stage and this is not about to change anytime soon, despite their impressive season where they played some of the best attacking football on the peninsula.

For all their success in qualifying for the Champions League the club already seem resigned to the fact that many of the star players, in particular, Alexis Sanchez – who is undoubtedly their most talented and promising star – will leave. Kwadwo Asamoah is another who may leave while Gohklan Inler has already agreed a move to Napoli.

Outside Italy’s top four teams this season, there is reason to believe that next season there will much increased competition for the title and for the three Champions League spots especially from Juventus and Roma.

The Giallorossi, in particular, are set to undergo an American revolution when their new owner Thomas Di Benedetto arrives in town with his American dollars. He has already made it clear that he wants to make Roma a power once again of Italian football with his ambitions of replicating the success Silvio Berlusconi has enjoyed at Milan since buying the club in 1986.

It could be similar to the Russian revolution experienced at Chelsea when Roman Ambramovich arrived. This means that there could be a number of star players headed to the Italian capital next season as the club will, at the very least, be aiming to qualify for the Champions League if not aiming to become Serie A Champions.

In addition to Di Benedetto’s objective of signing star players he is also planning to build Roma its own stadium. It is well known that one of the key issues in Italy has been that clubs do not own their own stadiums and as a result they miss out on a potentially significant source of revenue. Hence, this development is a real positive for Italian football in general. Hopefully other clubs will follow suit.

After another disappointing season, Juventus, who will have their own new stadium ready for next season, will attempt to again rebuild their squad as the club desperately tries to regain its former glories. Luigi Del Neri has been fired, Antonio Conte is set to take over his role and the club have been linked to numerous stars from Spain, Italy and England. If the Old Lady can finally get it right with a successful summer campaign and provide their supporters with a competitive team to take to the pitch at their new stadium, then, along with Roma the Turin giants will also by vying for top spot and Champions League qualification.

All this signals positive change for Serie A. The strength of the two Milan giants, the expected added competitiveness of Roma and Juventus along with the likes of Napoli and Lazio – if they can maintain or even strengthen their positions – will make for an even more exciting and tense season next time round.

In addition, all this means that there could be more talent coming to the peninsula, rather, as it has been for much of the last five years, than leaving. Serie A will be more competitive, better and consequently Italian clubs, aside from just Milan and Inter, may start performing better on the European stage.

With more competitive sides and if the trend towards clubs building and owning their own stadiums continues, then the future of Calcio looks brighter. All this may just be the start of Italian football slowly making its way up to where it belongs, as one of the top three leagues in Europe.

Frank Tigani is a writer for Italian Football Website, Serie A Weekly.com. He is also the creator of acmilanblog.net and is a editor for the Canadian Soccer Magazine publication, 11 Players. Originally from Australia, Frank covered Australian football and Australia's World Cup campaign during the 2010 South Africa FIFA World Cup for, just-football.com.

You can read more from Frank Tigani on the pages of SerieAWeekly.com and