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 one, 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.