2015–16 Empoli FC season

The 2015–16 season was Empoli Football Club's second consecutive season in Serie A after their promotion from Serie B at the end of the 2013–14 season. Having finished 15th the previous season, Empoli is competing only in domestic competition, in both Serie A and the Coppa Italia.

Empoli

2015–16 season
President	Fabrizio Corsi
Manager	Marco Giampaolo
Stadium	Stadio Carlo Castellani
Serie A	10th
Coppa Italia	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Massimo Maccarone (13) All: Massimo Maccarone (13)
Highest home attendance	14,693 vs Juventus (8 November 2015, Serie A)
Lowest home attendance	1,000 vs Vicenza (15 August 2015, Coppa Italia)
Average home league attendance	9,510[1]
Home colours Away colours Third colours
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

Empoli's pre-season began with the departure of manager Maurizio Sarri to Napoli.^[2]

Players

As of 29 August 2015.^[3]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  ITA Maurizio Pugliesi 2 DF  FRA Vincent Laurini 3 DF  ITA Marco Zambelli 4 DF  ALB Kastriot Dermaku 5 MF  ITA Riccardo Saponara 6 DF  ITA Luca Bittante 7 FW  ITA Massimo Maccarone 9 FW  GEO Levan Mchedlidze 11 MF  ITA Daniele Croce 12 MF  BRA Ronaldo Pompeu 13 MF  ITA Raffaele Maiello (on loan from Napoli) 14 MF  SEN Assane Dioussé 15 DF  ITA Andrea Costa 17 MF  POL Piotr Zieliński (on loan from Udinese)

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  ITA Federico Barba 20 FW  ITA Manuel Pucciarelli 21 DF  POR Mário Rui 22 FW  ITA Alessandro Piu 23 GK  ITA Alberto Pelagotti 24 DF  SRB Uroš Ćosić 26 DF  ITA Lorenzo Tonelli 28 GK  POL Łukasz Skorupski (on loan from Roma) 31 DF  ITA Michele Camporese 32 MF  ARG Leandro Paredes (on loan from Roma) 33 MF  BIH Rade Krunić 39 FW  CRO Marko Livaja (on loan from Rubin Kazan) 77 MF  LIE Marcel Büchel (on loan from Juventus)

Squad information

Transfers

In

Date	Pos.	Name	From	Fee
25 July 2015	DF	Michele Camporese	Fiorentina	Undisclosed[4]

Loans in

Date from	Date to	Pos.	Name	From

Out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee

Loans out

Date	Pos.	Name	To	Fee

Competitions

Serie A

Main article: 2015–16 Serie A

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
8	Lazio	38	15	9	14	52	52	0	54
9	Chievo	38	13	11	14	43	45	−2	50
10	Empoli	38	12	10	16	40	49	−9	46[a]
11	Genoa	38	13	7	18	45	48	−3	46[a]
12	Torino	38	12	9	17	52	55	−3	45[b]

Source: Serie A, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Head-to-head points; 3) Head-to-head goal difference; 4) Goal difference; 5) Goals scored; 6) Draw.^[5]
Notes:

1. Empoli ahead of Genoa on head-to-head goal difference; Empoli +1, Genoa –1.
2. Torino ahead of Atalanta on head-to-head points; Torino 6 points, Atalanta 0 points.

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	12	10	16	40	49	−9	46	7	6	6	22	20	+2	5	4	10	18	29	−11

Last updated: 15 May 2016.
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	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	D	W	L	L	W	L	W	D	W	L	D	W	W	W	W	L	W	D	D	L	D	D	L	L	L	L	D	D	L	W	L	W	L	D	L	W
Position	18	18	17	14	14	17	16	17	15	13	12	13	16	12	10	9	8	8	7	8	8	9	8	8	9	10	11	11	11	11	14	12	12	12	11	10	12	10

Updated to match(es) played on 15 May 2016. Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Empoli v Chievo

23 August 2015 1	Empoli	1–3	Chievo	Empoli
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Saponara 7',  65'	Report	Meggiorini  53', 55' Birsa 60' Paloschi 64' Rigoni  80'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,309 Referee: Maurizio Mariani

Milan v Empoli

29 August 2015 2	Milan	2–1	Empoli	Milan
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Bacca 16' Luiz Adriano 69'	Report	Saponara 20' Tonelli  27' Maccarone  42'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 34,382 Referee: Piero Giacomelli

Empoli v Napoli

13 September 2015 3	Empoli	2–2	Napoli	Empoli
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Saponara 3' Pucciarelli 18' Croce  45+1' Livaja  71'	Report	Insigne 7' Allan  40', 50' Valdifiori  58' Jorginho  79' Hysaj  87'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 9,632 Referee: Luca Banti

Udinese v Empoli

19 September 2015 4	Udinese	1–2	Empoli	Udine
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Zapata 19' Iturra  27' Ali Adnan  30' Kone  54'  72' Fernandes  84' Marquinho  90'	Report	Maccarone  38', 90+2' Laurini  61' Paredes 73' Ronaldo  80'	Stadium: Stadio Friuli Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Michael Fabbri

Empoli v Atalanta

24 September 2015 5	Empoli	0–1	Atalanta	Empoli
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Saponara  86' Dioussé  88'	Report	Toloi 31' Pinilla  34' Moralez  41' Grassi  48' Bellini  90'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,625 Referee: Claudio Gavillucci

Frosinone v Empoli

28 September 2015 6	Frosinone	2–0	Empoli	Frosinone
19:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Gori  17' Soddimo  37' Dionisi 58', 71' Blanchard  79'	Report	Laurini  27' Zieliński  51' Tonelli  75' Saponara  77' Livaja  84'	Stadium: Stadio Matusa Attendance: 7,165 Referee: Marco Guida

Empoli v Sassuolo

4 October 2015 7	Empoli	1–0	Sassuolo	Empoli
12:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Zieliński  16'  90' Tonelli  26' Maccarone 88' Krunić  90+2'	Report	Terranova  17' Peluso  36' Vrsaljko  72'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,634 Referee: Gianpaolo Calvarese

Roma v Empoli

17 October 2015 8	Roma	3–1	Empoli	Rome
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Pjanić  37', 56' De Rossi 59' Salah 69'	Report	Dioussé  39' Büchel 75'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 34,124 Referee: Piero Giacomelli

Empoli v Genoa

24 October 2015 9	Empoli	2–0	Genoa	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Tonelli  35' Krunić 44' Zieliński 57',  64' Livaja  84'	Report	Marchese  29' Muñoz  34' Gakpé  52'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 8,770 Referee: Domenico Celi

Sampdoria v Empoli

29 October 2015 10	Sampdoria	1–1	Empoli	Genoa
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Soriano  41' Muriel  65' Éder 67'	Report	Costa  21' Dioussé  52'  88' Pucciarelli 60' Büchel  71' Skorupski  90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 20,315 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

Palermo v Empoli

2 November 2015 11	Palermo	0–1	Empoli	Palermo
21:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Brugman  27' Lazaar  34' Struna  43' Anđelković  51' Rispoli  54' Quaison  59'	Report	Saponara  34', 53' Mário Rui  74' Maiello  88'	Stadium: Stadio Renzo Barbera Attendance: 16,731 Referee: Marco Di Bello

Empoli v Juventus

8 November 2015 12	Empoli	1–3	Juventus	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Maccarone 19' Mário Rui  58' Krunić  69'	Report	Mandžukić 32' Evra 38' Morata  51' Buffon  60' Marchisio  81' Dybala 84'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 14,693 Referee: Davide Massa

Fiorentina v Empoli

22 November 2015 13	Fiorentina	2–2	Empoli	Florence
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Rebić  24' Vecino  26' Suárez  30' Kalinić 56', 61' Bernardeschi  62' Tomović  71'	Report	Büchel  14', 27' Livaja 18',  71' Zieliński  83'	Stadium: Stadio Artemio Franchi Attendance: 27,618 Referee: Luca Banti

Empoli v Lazio

29 November 2015 14	Empoli	1–0	Lazio	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Tonelli 5',  33' Paredes  16' Livaja  28' Pucciarelli  90+5'	Report		Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 9,362 Referee: Michael Fabbri

Hellas Verona v Empoli

6 December 2015 15	Hellas Verona	0–1	Empoli	Verona
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Hallfreðsson  63'	Report	Mário Rui  6' Costa  11', 61' Büchel  40' Paredes  60'	Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Attendance: 15,198 Referee: Paolo Tagliavento

Empoli v Carpi

13 December 2015 16	Empoli	3–0	Carpi	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Maccarone 46', 61' Saponara 51'	Report	Gagliolo  65' Di Gaudio  72'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 8,863 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

Bologna v Empoli

19 December 2015 17	Bologna	2–3	Empoli	Bologna
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Brienza 36' Destro 45' Pulgar  74' Taïder  87'	Report	Pucciarelli 24' Costa  34' Maccarone 42', 48' Laurini  56' Skorupski  57' Mário Rui  65'	Stadium: Stadio Renato Dall'Ara Attendance: 19,214 Referee: Maurizio Mariani

Empoli v Internazionale

6 January 2016 18	Empoli	0–1	Internazionale	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Paredes  26' Croce  67'	Report	Murillo  16' Brozović  35' Icardi 45+1'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 13,735 Referee: Domenico Celi

Torino v Empoli

10 January 2016 19	Torino	0–1	Empoli	Turin
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Molinaro  20' Belotti  35' Zappacosta  90'	Report	Büchel  26' Livaja  32' Maccarone  45+2', 56' Barba  62' Paredes  66' Laurini  90+3'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico di Torino Attendance: 14,730 Referee: Andrea Gervasoni

Chievo v Empoli

17 January 2016 20	Chievo	1–1	Empoli	Verona
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Paloschi 7' Birsa  11' Cesar  80' Pinzi  90+2'	Report	Krunić  23' Barba  41' Tonelli 47' Paredes  53'	Stadium: Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi Attendance: 8,000 Referee: Rosario Abisso

Empoli v Milan

23 January 2016 21	Empoli	2–2	Milan	Empoli
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Zieliński 32' Barba  36' Saponara  60' Maccarone 61'	Report	Bacca 8' Bonaventura 48' Honda  59' Montolivo  60' Balotelli  82' Romagnoli  90+1'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 11,499 Referee: Carmine Russo

Napoli v Empoli

31 January 2016 22	Napoli	5–1	Empoli	Naples
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Higuaín 33' Reina  34' Insigne 37' Hysaj  39' Allan  45' Camporese 51' (o.g.) Callejón 83', 88'	Report	Paredes 28' Zieliński  36' Tonelli  50' Büchel  79'	Stadium: Stadio San Paolo Attendance: 39,986 Referee: Davide Massa

Empoli v Udinese

3 February 2016 23	Empoli	1–1	Udinese	Empoli
20:45 CET (UTC+01:00)	Croce  58' Mchedlidze  82' Paredes  89' Pucciarelli 90'	Report	Zapata  16', 23' Fernandes  50' Badu  71' Widmer  82' Kuzmanović  85' Hallfreðsson  89'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,581 Referee: Eugenio Abbattista

Atalanta v Empoli

7 February 2016 24	Atalanta	0–0	Empoli	Bergamo
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	De Roon  42' Diamanti  69' D'Alessandro  77'	Report	Büchel  13' Tonelli  57' Laurini  58' Livaja  84'	Stadium: Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia Attendance: 12,352 Referee: Michael Fabbri

Empoli v Frosinone

13 February 2016 25	Empoli	1–2	Frosinone	Empoli
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Maccarone 59' Büchel  63' Mário Rui  90+3'	Report	Ciofani 17', 73' (pen.) Sammarco  35' Blanchard  56' Gori  58' Tonev  64' Rosi  69' Longo  85'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,897 Referee: Marco Di Bello

Sassuolo v Empoli

21 February 2016 26	Sassuolo	3–2	Empoli	Reggio Emilia
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Missiroli  14'  31' Berardi 41' Defrel 48', 50' Peluso  69'	Report	Tonelli  10'  38' Zieliński 36' Saponara  53' Maccarone 70' (pen.)	Stadium: Mapei Stadium – Città del Tricolore Attendance: 10,243 Referee: Paolo Valeri

Empoli v Roma

27 February 2016 27	Empoli	1–3	Roma	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Pucciarelli  17' Zukanović 22' (o.g.) Mário Rui  63'  90+4'	Report	El Shaarawy 5', 74' Pjanić  17', 27' Perotti  41'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 12,761 Referee: Andrea Gervasoni

Genoa v Empoli

6 March 2016 28	Genoa	1–0	Empoli	Genoa
15:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Rigoni 48' Cerci  80'	Report	Zambelli  31' Büchel  42' Paredes  75' Ćosić  86'	Stadium: Stadio Luigi Ferraris Attendance: 21,134 Referee: Maurizio Mariani

Empoli v Sampdoria

12 March 2016 29	Empoli	1–1	Sampdoria	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Mário Rui  56' Costa  69' Laurini 82'	Report	De Silvestri  31' Quagliarella 42' Álvarez  78' Christodoulopoulos  81'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 8,752 Referee: Michael Fabbri

Empoli v Palermo

20 March 2016 30	Empoli	0–0	Palermo	Empoli
18:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Paredes  68'	Report	Jajalo  55' Bentivegna  81'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 8,597 Referee: Davide Massa

Juventus v Empoli

2 April 2016 31	Juventus	1–0	Empoli	Turin
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Mandžukić 44' Lichtsteiner  45+1' Zaza  67'	Report	Paredes  53' Tonelli  86'	Stadium: Juventus Stadium Attendance: 39,260 Referee: Gianpaolo Calvarese

Empoli v Fiorentina

10 April 2016 32	Empoli	2–0	Fiorentina	Empoli
12:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Ćosić  23' Pucciarelli 41' Büchel  75' Zieliński 88',  89'	Report	Roncaglia  24' Vecino  33' Alonso  61' Astori  84'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 9,651 Referee: Antonio Damato

Lazio v Empoli

17 April 2016 33	Lazio	2–0	Empoli	Rome
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Candreva 6' (pen.) Keita  27' Biglia  28' Parolo  30' Onazi 44'	Report	Ćosić  6' Mchedlidze  90'	Stadium: Stadio Olimpico Attendance: 20,983 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

Empoli v Hellas Verona

20 April 2016 34	Empoli	1–0	Hellas Verona	Empoli
20:45 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Saponara  44' Maccarone 50'	Report	Viviani  16'  90' Bianchetti  19' Souprayen  26' Wszołek  90+2'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 7,816 Referee: Marco Serra

Carpi v Empoli

24 April 2016 35	Carpi	1–0	Empoli	Modena
19:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Crimi  21' Lollo  30'  90' Bianco  79' Lasagna 85' Mancosu  90+4'	Report	Ćosić  18' Mchedlidze  25' Zambelli  46' Paredes  65' Maccarone  90+5'	Stadium: Stadio Alberto Braglia Attendance: 7,667 Referee: Paolo Valeri

Empoli v Bologna

1 May 2016 36	Empoli	0–0	Bologna	Empoli
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)		Report	Oikonomou  87' Masina  90+4'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 9,727 Referee: Daniele Chiffi

Internazionale v Empoli

7 May 2016 37	Internazionale	2–1	Empoli	Milan
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Icardi 12' Perišić 40',  88' Nagatomo  50' Handanović  87'	Report	Büchel  21' Pucciarelli 37'	Stadium: San Siro Attendance: 44,348 Referee: Marco Di Bello

Empoli v Torino

15 May 2016 38	Empoli	2–1	Torino	Empoli
15:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Maccarone 12' Zambelli  31' Paredes  36' Zieliński 54'	Report	Obi  26', 56'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 8,791 Referee: Francesco Saia

Coppa Italia

Main article: 2015–16 Coppa Italia

Empoli v Vicenza

15 August 2015 Third round	Empoli	0–1	Vicenza	Empoli
18:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)			Gatto 54'	Stadium: Stadio Carlo Castellani Attendance: 1,000 Referee: Angelo Cervellera

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	1	0	1	0	0	0
23	GK	ITA	Alberto Pelagotti	6	0	6	0	0	0
28	GK	POL	Łukasz Skorupski	32	0	31	0	1	0
Defenders
2	DF	FRA	Vincent Laurini	25	1	24+1	1	0	0
3	DF	ITA	Marco Zambelli	19	0	13+6	0	0	0
6	DF	ITA	Luca Bittante	17	0	3+13	0	0+1	0
15	DF	ITA	Andrea Costa	24	1	23+1	1	0	0
21	DF	POR	Mário Rui	37	0	36	0	1	0
24	DF	SRB	Uroš Ćosić	9	0	9	0	0	0
26	DF	ITA	Lorenzo Tonelli	27	2	26	2	1	0
31	DF	ITA	Michele Camporese	2	0	2	0	0	0
37	DF	ITA	Lorenzo Ariaudo	5	0	5	0	0	0
Midfielders
5	MF	ITA	Riccardo Saponara	34	5	32+1	5	1	0
11	MF	ITA	Daniele Croce	29	0	19+9	0	1	0
13	MF	ITA	Raffaele Maiello	12	0	4+8	0	0	0
14	MF	SEN	Assane Dioussé	16	0	9+6	0	0+1	0
17	MF	POL	Piotr Zieliński	36	5	35	5	1	0
32	MF	ARG	Leandro Paredes	33	2	29+4	2	0	0
33	MF	BIH	Rade Krunić	16	1	5+10	1	0+1	0
77	MF	LIE	Marcel Büchel	28	2	18+10	2	0	0
Forwards
7	FW	ITA	Massimo Maccarone	38	13	35+2	13	1	0
9	FW	GEO	Levan Mchedlidze	14	0	2+11	0	0+1	0
20	FW	ITA	Manuel Pucciarelli	39	6	33+5	6	1	0
22	FW	ITA	Alessandro Piu	10	0	2+8	0	0	0
39	FW	CRO	Marko Livaja	18	1	4+14	1	0	0
Players transferred out during the season
12	MF	BRA	Ronaldo	3	0	1+2	0	0	0
18	MF	VEN	Franco Signorelli	1	0	0+1	0	0	0
19	DF	ITA	Federico Barba	11	0	10	0	1	0
55	DF	ITA	Luca Martinelli	2	0	1	0	0+1	0

Last updated: 15 May 2016
Source: Competitions

Goalscorers

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Total
1	7	FW		Massimo Maccarone	13	0	13
2	20	FW		Manuel Pucciarelli	6	0	6
3	5	MF		Riccardo Saponara	5	0	5
	17	MF		Piotr Zieliński	5	0	5
5	26	DF		Lorenzo Tonelli	2	0	2
	32	MF		Leandro Paredes	2	0	2
	77	MF		Marcel Büchel	2	0	2
8	2	DF		Vincent Laurini	1	0	1
	15	DF		Andrea Costa	1	0	1
	33	MF		Rade Krunić	1	0	1
	39	FW		Marko Livaja	1	0	1
Own goal					1	0	1
Totals					40	0	40

Last updated: 15 May 2016

Clean sheets

Rank	No.	Pos	Nat	Name	Serie A	Coppa Italia	Total
1	28	GK		Łukasz Skorupski	9	0	9
2	23	GK		Alberto Pelagotti	3	0	3
Totals					12	0	12

Last updated: 1 May 2016