Welcome to Calcio Square, an email newsletter dedicated to Serie A and Italian football. I publish essays every Monday and Thursday and encourage you to reach out with any feedback. You can email me at hello@calciosquare.com.

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The coverage that immediately followed Empoli's stunning shootout win over Juventus was one-sided. La Gazzetta dello Sport published article after article about Thiago Motta's prospects as Juventus manager following the most disappointing result of a season full of them. Juventus sporting director Cristiano Giuntoli defended the club's off-season signings, including midfielder Teun Koopmeiners, who has a €54-million albatross hanging around his neck.

They were out of the Coppa Italia. It's news every time it happens to the record holders. But the culprits of the competition's biggest upset in years hardly got their dues.

Empoli didn't just eliminate Juventus. They embarrassed them on their turf. The team from the Tuscan town of just 50,000 people trotted out three under-20 players. Nine of their players were out injured. Two of Empoli's most reliable starters, Saba Goglichidze and Sebastiano Esposito, began the night on the bench. Empoli fell from 10th place in mid-December to 18th after going 11 matches without a win.

The trip to Turin felt like a death march. They found new life instead.

The game had all the recipes of an upset. Devis Vasquez, on loan from AC Milan, started in goal after losing the No. 1 position and made a crucial save in the shootout. Luca Marianucci, a 20-year-old center-back with just two Serie A starts to his name, converted the decisive spot-kick.

Empoli weren't supposed to make the Coppa Italia semifinals for the first time in their history. The club's social media manager didn't have a graphic prepared for such an unlikely victory. Only about a dozen or so fans made the four-hour car ride up to Turin. There wasn't much of a point, was there?

And yet they delivered something truly historic for those bleary-eyed supporters: Empoli, so tiny they officially belong to the city of Florence, are the first side from a provincial non-capital to reach the semifinals since Ligurian outfit Vado made the final four in 1922. That's simply the stuff of legend.

Empoli have defied gravity for some time now. They only played in Serie A four times before the turn of the century, spending most of their post-war years in the second and third tiers. But they've become a mainstay in recent times, finishing as high as seventh in 2007. They'll make it five consecutive top-flight seasons if they find a way to avoid relegation this time around.

Even if they don't, the Coppa Italia offers them a unique opportunity. Empoli could beat Bologna in the semis and either Inter or Milan in the final and do the completely irrational thing and qualify for the Europa League as Coppa Italia winners and one of the three teams going down to Serie B. Imagine Empoli earning millions in the Saudi-based Supercoppa Italiana as an unlikely Coppa Italia finalist — whether they're in Serie A or not. These unthinkable scenarios are possible.

So few of these stories pop up in the Coppa Italia. Cremonese made a similar run from the first round in 2022-23, beating Napoli and Roma en route to the semifinals. Alessandria did it as a Serie C side before falling to Milan in the final four.

We have to cherish these stories the few times they happen.