2014–15 Empoli FC season

The 2014–15 season was Empoli Football Club's first season in Serie A since the 2007–08 season. The team competed in both Serie A and the Coppa Italia.

Empoli

2014–15 season
President	Fabrizio Corsi
Manager	Maurizio Sarri
Stadium	Stadio Carlo Castellani
Serie A	15th
Coppa Italia	Round of 16
Top goalscorer	League: Massimo Maccarone (10) All: Massimo Maccarone (10)
Highest home attendance	14,698 vs Juventus (1 November 2014, Serie A)
Lowest home attendance	1,470 vs Genoa (3 December 2014, Coppa Italia)
Average home league attendance	9,229[1]
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

Players

Squad information

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ITA Luca Castellazzi 2 DF  FRA Vincent Laurini 5 MF  ITA Davide Moro (captain) 6 MF  ITA Mirko Valdifiori 7 MF  ITA Massimo Maccarone 8 MF  VEN Franco Signorelli 9 FW  GEO Levan Mchedlidze 10 FW  ITA Francesco Tavano 11 MF  ITA Daniele Croce 16 GK  ITA Matteo Biggeri 17 MF  ITA Tiberio Guarente 18 MF  ITA Simone Verdi (on loan from Torino) 19 DF  ITA Federico Barba 20 FW  ITA Manuel Pucciarelli

No. Pos. Nation Player 21 DF  POR Mário Rui 23 DF  ALB Elseid Hysaj 24 DF  ITA Daniele Rugani (on loan from Juventus) 25 DF  ITA Matteo Bachini 26 DF  ITA Lorenzo Tonelli 27 MF  ITA Ludovico Gargiulo 28 GK  ITA Davide Bassi 30 DF  ITA Andrea Gemignani 33 GK  ITA Luigi Sepe (on loan from Napoli) 58 DF  ITA Luca Martinelli 77 FW  GEO Irakli Shekiladze 95 FW  ITA Emanuele Rovini 99 FW  URU Rodrigo Aguirre (on loan from Udinese)

Competitions

Serie A

Main article: 2014–15 Serie A

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
13	Hellas Verona	38	11	13	14	49	65	−16	46
14	Chievo	38	10	13	15	28	41	−13	43
15	Empoli	38	8	18	12	46	52	−6	42
16	Udinese	38	10	11	17	43	56	−13	41
17	Atalanta	38	7	16	15	38	57	−19	37

Source: 2014–15 Serie A, 2014-15 Serie A classification.^[2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) head-to-head points; 3) head-to-head goal difference; 4) goal difference; 5) number of goals scored; 6) draw. (Head-to-head record is applied for clubs with the same number of points only once all matches between said clubs have been played.).^[3]

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	8	18	12	46	52	−6	42	6	8	5	26	22	+4	2	10	7	20	30	−10

Last updated: 31 May 2015.
Source: Competitive matches

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A
Result	L	L	D	D	D	W	D	L	L	L	W	W	D	D	D	D	D	L	D	L	D	W	D	W	D	D	D	W	L	L	D	D	W	W	L	L	D	L
Position	19	20	19	19	17	12	13	14	17	17	16	14	13	13	14	13	13	15	16	16	16	15	14	14	14	13	15	13	14	15	16	16	14	13	15	16	15	15

Updated to match(es) played on 31 May 2015. Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Udinese v Empoli

31 August 2014 1	Udinese	2–0	Empoli	Udine
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Pasquale  39' Di Natale 57', 62' Badu  64'	Report	Croce  55' Verdi  74'	Stadium: Stadio Friuli Attendance: 7,889 Referee: Marco Di Bello

Empoli v Roma

13 September 2014 2	Empoli	0–1	Roma	Empoli
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)		Report	Sepe 45+1' (o.g.) De Rossi  67'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 11,118 Referee: Andrea Gervasoni

Cesena v Empoli

20 September 2014 3	Cesena	2–2	Empoli	Cesena
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Giorgi  24' Marilungo 30' Defrel 32',  77' Cascione  51' Lucchini  54'	Report	Tavano 55' (pen.) Rugani 72' Vecino  76'	Stadium: Stadio Dino Manuzzi Attendance: 14,073 Referee: Claudio Gavillucci

Empoli v Milan

23 September 2014 4	Empoli	2–2	Milan	Empoli
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Tonelli 13' Pucciarelli 21' Vecino  42' Valdifiori  85'  86'	Report	Zapata  20' Muntari  36' Torres 43' De Sciglio  50' Honda 57'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 12,619 Referee: Gianpaolo Calvarese

Chievo v Empoli

28 September 2014 5	Chievo	1–1	Empoli	Verona
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Radovanović  45+1' Meggiorini 50' Hetemaj  86' Biraghi  90+1'	Report	Pucciarelli 59' Hysaj  74'	Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Attendance: 6,000 Referee: Davide Massa

Empoli v Palermo

5 October 2014 6	Empoli	3–0	Palermo	Empoli
12:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Maccarone 4' Tonelli 33' Pucciarelli 63'	Report	Vázquez  11' Feddal  16' Bolzoni  37' Terzi  70'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,504 Referee: Nicola Rizzoli

Genoa v Empoli

20 October 2015 7	Genoa	1–1	Empoli	Genoa
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Bertolacci 14',  90+2' Antonini  71' Perotti  78'	Report	Croce  76' Tonelli 77'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 17,843 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

Empoli v Cagliari

25 October 2014 8	Empoli	0–4	Cagliari	Empoli
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Valdifiori  37' Moro  63'	Report	Sau 31' Avelar 36', 38' (pen.) Ekdal 45+2' Crisetig  51' Farias  86'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 8,121 Referee: Luca Pairetto

Sassuolo v Empoli

28 October 2014 9	Sassuolo	3–1	Empoli	Reggio Emilia
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Taïder  44' Missiroli 56' Floccari 61' Berardi 73' Acerbi  89'	Report	Croce 18' Vecino  19' Maccarone  28' Tonelli  75'	Stadium: Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Daniele Orsato

Empoli v Juventus

1 November 2014 10	Empoli	0–2	Juventus	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Tonelli  60'  90+5' Hysaj  90+2'	Report	Vidal  53' Pirlo 61' Morata 72'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 14,698 Referee: Paolo Valeri

Empoli v Lazio

9 November 2014 11	Empoli	2–1	Lazio	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Barba 52' Maccarone 55' Mário Rui  84'	Report	Cavanda  38' Ederson  57' Đorđević 66'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 8,153 Referee: Paolo Mazzoleni

Parma v Empoli

23 November 2014 12	Parma	0–2	Empoli	Parma
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Lodi  47' Galloppa  54' Acquah  57' Belfodil  70'	Report	Vecino 45+1' Tavano 56' Maccarone  70'	Stadium: Stadio Ennio Tardini Attendance: 10,625 Referee: Piero Giacomelli

Empoli v Atalanta

30 November 2014 13	Empoli	0–0	Atalanta	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Croce  5' Tavano  73'	Report	Dramé  29' Cigarini  83' Migliaccio  90'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 6,938 Referee: Sebastiano Peruzzo

Napoli v Empoli

7 December 2014 14	Napoli	2–2	Empoli	Naples
12:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Maggio  63' Zapata 67' Albiol  69' De Guzmán 72'	Report	Verdi 19' Rugani 53' Laxalt  63' Mário Rui  73'	Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Attendance: 30,128 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

Empoli v Torino

15 December 2014 15	Empoli	0–0	Torino	Empoli
19:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Vecino  4' Mário Rui  69'	Report	Gazzi  17' Jansson  32'  90+1' Moretti  55' El Kaddouri  79'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,796 Referee: Gianpaolo Calvarese

Fiorentina v Empoli

21 December 2014 16	Fiorentina	1–1	Empoli	Florence
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Vargas 44' El Hamdaoui  88' Valero  90' Aquilani  90+1'	Report	Maccarone  32' Tonelli 57' Pucciarelli  89' Zieliński  90+1' Valdifiori  90+4'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 34,162 Referee: Carmine Russo

Empoli v Hellas Verona

6 January 2015 17	Empoli	0–0	Hellas Verona	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Tonelli  49'  65'	Report	Sala  24' Toni  41' Campanharo  59' Hallfreðsson  68'  77'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,705 Referee: Piero Giacomelli

Sampdoria v Empoli

11 January 2015 18	Sampdoria	1–0	Empoli	Genoa
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Éder 49' Palombo  59'	Report	Mário Rui  24' Hysaj  36'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 19,931 Referee: Dino Tommasi

Empoli v Internazionale

17 January 2015 19	Empoli	0–0	Internazionale	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Mchedlidze  57'	Report	Vidić  86' Medel  90+3'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 13,449 Referee: Daniele Doveri

Empoli v Udinese

26 January 2015 20	Empoli	1–2	Udinese	Empoli
19:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Saponara 37' (pen.),  38' Barba  90+4'	Report	Di Natale 19' Danilo  36' Widmer 60' Kone  61'  74' Piris  69'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,381 Referee: Davide Ghersini

Roma v Empoli

31 January 2015 21	Roma	1–1	Empoli	Rome
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Manolas  38' Maicon 57' Florenzi  58' Astori  90+1' Nainggolan  90+4'	Report	Maccarone 39' (pen.) Saponara  43'  45+2' Croce  50' Valdifiori  71'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 33,621 Referee: Carmine Russo

Empoli v Cesena

8 February 2015 22	Empoli	2–0	Cesena	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Maccarone 29' Mário Rui  45+1' Signorelli 57' Mchedlidze  83'	Report	De Feudis  11' Capelli  36' Giorgi  63' Rodríguez  82'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,586 Referee: Daniele Orsato

Milan v Empoli

15 February 2015 23	Milan	1–1	Empoli	Milan
12:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Destro 40' Rami  48' Antonelli  64' Paletta  81' Diego López  84'	Report	Maccarone 68' Verdi  78' Tonelli  90+1'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 27,170 Referee: Paolo Valeri

Empoli v Chievo

22 February 2015 24	Empoli	3–0	Chievo	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Rugani 22' Maccarone 46', 67'	Report	Radovanović  36' Botta  87'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,338 Referee: Paolo Tagliavento

Palermo v Empoli

1 March 2015 25	Palermo	0–0	Empoli	Palermo
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Rispoli  37' Dybala  51' Daprelà  69'	Report	Hysaj  5' Vecino  18' Zieliński  89'	Stadium: Stadio Renzo Barbera Attendance: 22,352 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

Empoli v Genoa

8 March 2015 26	Empoli	1–1	Genoa	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Barba 66' Mário Rui  75' Valdifiori  88'	Report	Niang 27' Burdisso  61' Bertolacci  69'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 10,392 Referee: Fabio Maresca

Cagliari v Empoli

14 March 2015 27	Cagliari	1–1	Empoli	Cagliari
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Farias  8' João Pedro 20' Balzano  57'	Report	Zieliński  75' Vecino 90+3'	Stadium: Stadio Sant'Elia Attendance: 10,500 Referee: Nicola Rizzoli

Empoli v Sassuolo

22 March 2015 28	Empoli	3–1	Sassuolo	Empoli
12:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Saponara 46', 60' Mchedlidze 59'	Report	Acerbi  44' Rugani 49' (o.g.) Magnanelli  62'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,703 Referee: Dino Tommasi

Juventus v Empoli

4 April 2015 29	Juventus	2–0	Empoli	Turin
21:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Tevez 43',  48' Barzagli  89' Pereyra 90+4'	Report	Mário Rui  66' Saponara  78'	Stadium: Juventus Stadium Attendance: 40,029 Referee: Piero Giacomelli

Lazio v Empoli

12 April 2015 30	Lazio	4–0	Empoli	Rome
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Mauri 4' Klose 31',  55' Candreva 44' Novaretti  46'  58' Felipe Anderson 53' Cana  75' Cavanda  81'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 49,096 Referee: Sebastiano Peruzzo

Empoli v Parma

19 April 2015 31	Empoli	2–2	Parma	Empoli
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Maccarone 32' Tonelli 45'	Report	Lodi 19' Mauri  62' Belfodil 73'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,767 Referee: Fabrizio Pasqua

Atalanta v Empoli

26 April 2015 32	Atalanta	2–2	Empoli	Bergamo
12:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Benalouane  33' Gómez 43' Cigarini  61' D'Alessandro  85' Denis 90+3'	Report	Saponara 41' Pucciarelli  56' Maccarone 60'	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Attendance: 13,651 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

Empoli v Napoli

30 April 2015 33	Empoli	4–2	Napoli	Empoli
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Maccarone 8' Laurini  15' Britos 43' (o.g.) Saponara 45+1' Tonelli  71' Albiol 81' (o.g.) Verdi  90+1'	Report	Ghoulam  24' Laurini 64' (o.g.) Higuaín  79' Hamšík 90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 10,116 Referee: Davide Massa

Torino v Empoli

6 May 2015 34	Torino	0–1	Empoli	Turin
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Glik  59' González  66' Peres  90+2'	Report	Padelli 3' (o.g.) Mário Rui  65'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico di Torino Attendance: 11,000 Referee: Dino Tommasi

Empoli v Fiorentina

10 May 2015 35	Empoli	2–3	Fiorentina	Empoli
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Saponara 27' Mchedlidze 77',  83'	Report	Iličić 6', 68' Badelj  24' Vargas  33' Salah 57'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 9,878 Referee: Andrea Gervasoni

Hellas Verona v Empoli

17 May 2015 36	Hellas Verona	2–1	Empoli	Verona
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Moras 24' Fernandinho  66' Sala 67'	Report	Saponara 6' Croce  83' Verdi  90'	Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Attendance: 18,588 Referee: Federico La Penna

Empoli v Sampdoria

24 May 2015 37	Empoli	1–1	Sampdoria	Empoli
12:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Valdifiori  41' Pucciarelli 57' Maccarone  90+5' Vecino  90+6'	Report	Acquah  45+3' Muriel  47' Eto'o 90+1' Romagnoli  90+5'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 9,084 Referee: Gianpaolo Calvarese

Internazionale v Empoli

31 May 2015 38	Internazionale	4–3	Empoli	Milan
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Palacio 49' Icardi 53', 77' Brozović 70' Hernanes  84'	Report	Mchedlidze 59', 88' Pucciarelli 62' Barba  63' Valdifiori  67' Mário Rui  90+3'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 32,036 Referee: Antonio Damato

Coppa Italia

Main article: 2014–15 Coppa Italia

Empoli v L'Aquila

24 August 2014 Third round	Empoli	3–0	L'Aquila	Empoli
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Verdi 10' Tavano 19', 80' Mchedlidze  53'		Del Pinto  33' Karkalis  69'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 2,359 Referee: Sig. Roca di Foggia

Empoli v Genoa

3 December 2014 Fourth round	Empoli	2–0	Genoa	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Laxalt 4' Mchedlidze  68', 73' Zieliński  89'	Report	Greco  8' Matri  75' Pinilla  85'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 1,470 Referee: Marco Di Bello

Roma v Empoli

20 January 2015 Round of 16	Roma	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Empoli	Rome
21:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Iturbe 5' Yanga-Mbiwa  99' De Rossi 114' (pen.)	Report	Bianchetti  55' Verdi 80' Vecino  113' Zieliński  113' Laxalt  120+1'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 11,019 Referee: Marco Di Bello

Statistics

Appearances and goals

No.	Pos	Nat	Player	Total		Serie A		Coppa Italia
				Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	GK	ITA	Maurizio Pugliesi	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	GK	ITA	Davide Bassi	9	0	7	0	2	0
32	GK	ITA	Alessandro Giacomel	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	GK	ITA	Luigi Sepe	32	0	31	0	1	0
Defenders
2	DF	FRA	Vincent Laurini	17	0	14+1	0	2	0
19	DF	ITA	Federico Barba	20	2	12+6	2	2	0
21	DF	POR	Mário Rui	37	0	28+6	0	2+1	0
22	DF	ITA	Matteo Bianchetti	3	0	0+1	0	2	0
23	DF	ALB	Elseid Hysaj	39	0	33+3	0	2+1	0
24	DF	ITA	Daniele Rugani	39	3	38	3	1	0
26	DF	ITA	Lorenzo Tonelli	30	5	27+1	5	1+1	0
50	DF	ITA	Michele Somma	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
Midfielders
5	MF	ITA	Riccardo Saponara	18	7	17	7	1	0
6	MF	ITA	Mirko Valdifiori	38	0	36	0	1+1	0
8	MF	VEN	Franco Signorelli	15	1	4+9	1	2	0
11	MF	ITA	Daniele Croce	39	1	35+2	1	2	0
17	MF	ITA	Tiberio Guarente	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
18	MF	ITA	Simone Verdi	28	3	17+9	1	1+1	2
25	MF	AUS	Joshua Brillante	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
27	MF	POL	Piotr Zieliński	30	0	7+21	0	1+1	0
88	MF	URU	Matías Vecino	38	2	36	2	2	0
Forwards
7	FW	ITA	Massimo Maccarone	35	10	30+4	10	1	0
9	FW	GEO	Levan Mchedlidze	27	5	6+19	4	2	1
10	FW	ITA	Francesco Tavano	28	4	15+11	2	2	2
20	FW	ITA	Manuel Pucciarelli	36	5	25+9	5	1+1	0
Players transferred out during the season
5	MF	ITA	Davide Moro	4	0	0+4	0	0	0
13	MF	URU	Diego Laxalt	7	1	0+4	0	2+1	1
77	FW	GEO	Irakli Shekiladze	0	0	0	0	0	0
95	FW	ITA	Emanuele Rovini	0	0	0	0	0	0
99	FW	URU	Rodrigo Aguirre	2	0	0+1	0	0+1	0

Last updated: 30 May 2015
Source: Competitions

Goalscorers

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Total
1	7	FW		Massimo Maccarone	10	0	10
2	5	MF		Riccardo Saponara	7	0	7
3	9	FW		Levan Mchedlidze	4	1	5
	20	FW		Manuel Pucciarelli	5	0	5
	26	DF		Lorenzo Tonelli	5	0	5
6	10	FW		Francesco Tavano	2	2	4
7	18	MF		Simone Verdi	1	2	3
	24	DF		Daniele Rugani	3	0	3
9	19	DF		Federico Barba	2	0	2
	88	MF		Matías Vecino	2	0	2
11	8	MF		Franco Signorelli	1	0	1
	11	MF		Daniele Croce	1	0	1
	13	MF		Diego Laxalt	0	1	1
Own goal					3	0	3
Totals					46	6	52

Last updated: 17 January 2016

References

1. "Statistiche Spettatori Serie A - Attendance Statistics Serie A".
2. "legacalcio.it classification" (in Italian). 14 August 2015. Archived from the original on 28 June 2009. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
3. "Norme organizzative interne della F.I.G.C. - Art. 51.6" (PDF) (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. 14 August 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 19 May 2016.