Today in Serie A – March 26, 1972: Agroppi’s Winner in the Derby of Turin | OneFootball

Aldo Agroppi, a solid Serie A midfielder during the 1970s and a veteran Torino player for nine seasons, passed away at 80 just a couple months ago. Since we did not honor him as he deserved in the occasion, today we take the chance to remember on of his exploits which gave Torino the W in a hard-fought Derby della Mole against Juventus.

It happened at the then Stadio Comunale in Turin, which used to host both football clubs of the city (it has now been restructured and renamed Stadio Olimpico Grande Torino to become the Granata‘s home, while Juventus moved to their brand new Allianz Stadium), on March 26, 1972.

If one looks back at calcio in Italy, the 1970s decade does not come up as the most spectacular. Sandwiched between a 1960s age characterized by the legendary battle between Helenio Herrera’s Inter and Nereo Rocco’s Milan, and the glorious 1980s which really established the Serie A as the top league in the world, the 1970s are often remembered as a dull era with few goals and scarce emotions.

Still, the 1971/72 battle for the Scudetto is often remembered as one of the most closely-contested ever in Serie A,  involving Milan, both the Turinese clubs and, at some point, even Cagliari and Fiorentina. When Torino and Juventus squared off in the second derby of the season, the Bianconeri were top of the table and the Granata trailed by three.

When Pietro Anastasi picked a Fabio Capello long range cross and beat Luciano Castellini with a fine left foot shot, it seemed that the path towards the title was clear for Juve. However, Torino drew balance just ten minutes later, courtesy of a clinical Claudio Sala free kick.

Aldo Agroppi then became the hero of the day in the second half, when he pounced on a save from the Juventus goalkeeper to tap the ball in and set the score at 2-1. It was one of the very few occasions when the Derby della Mole was a Scudetto six-pointer.

Torino’s story didn’t have a happy ending, though. Even if the Granata managed to grab the top spot in the table on Matchday 26, they lost to Milan in the following week. Juventus, on the other hand, dismantled title-defender Inter and regained the lead, which they would retain until the end to win their 14th Scudetto, the first in five years.