Salvatore Bagni turns 70: Maradona's Napoli warrior, winning the Scudetto and Coppa Italia.

Seventy years of football, sacrifice, and battles on the pitch. Salvatore Bagni turns 70 and celebrates a milestone that coincides with the commemoration of one of the most important chapters in Napoli's history. Born in Correggio on September 25, 1956, the former midfielder was one of the team's key figures, one that, along with Diego Armando Maradona, brought the Scudetto to Mount Vesuvius for the first time.

His career began in the provinces. After starting out at Carpi, Bagni stood out and in 1977 he joined Ilario Castagner's Perugia. In Umbria, he enjoyed a memorable season, the 1978-79 season, finishing second place, undefeated, behind AC Milan.

Born as an attacking player, capable of starting from the wing, his range of action diminished as the years went by. His definitive tactical transformation came at Inter, where he joined in 1981. With the Nerazzurri, he immediately won the Coppa Italia in the 1981-82 season and completed his development as a central midfielder.

With Inter, he made 121 appearances and scored 17 goals in all competitions, before the turning point that would change his footballing career forever. In the summer of 1984, Bagni joined Napoli, just as the club welcomed Maradona. Thus began a four-year period destined to remain etched in the memory of Napoli fans.

While the Argentine star's talent ignited the game, Bagni represented the team's fighting spirit: running, aggressiveness, recoveries, and a constant presence in the heart of midfield. He was one of the key players in the Napoli team that won the club's first Scudetto in the 1986-87 season, completing the feat with a Coppa Italia victory.

His character shines through even in the most controversial episodes. One of the most famous is his gesture towards Roma fans, which has remained in the Italian football community as one of the symbolic moments of the deterioration of the relationship between the two sets of supporters, after a rivalry that had already begun to deteriorate.

Bagni also played a key role with the national team. He made his debut on January 6, 1981, against the Netherlands, and his spell with the Azzurri ended in 1987, with 41 appearances and four goals. After his time in Naples, his final stop was Avellino. In 1989, after moving from the provincial fields to the great challenges of Italian football and sharing a locker room with Maradona, Bagni decided to hang up his boots.

Thus remains the memory of a midfielder who became the symbol of an unrepeatable era: that of Maradona's Napoli, of the first Scudetto celebration and of a team that had in Bagni one of its most recognizable warriors.