Aurelio Andreazzoli hopes Empoli’s shock victory away to Juventus will give them belief going forward in Serie A this season. ‘I told the lads, it can be done.’

The Tuscans caused the upset of the season so far, promoted from Serie B over the summer to beat the Old Lady in Turin with a Leonardo Mancuso strike.

“It might be historic, but the more important thing for me is that we got three points in the bag. Obviously, it being in this stadium makes it feel like it’s worth more,” the coach told DAZN.

Serie A Juventus 0-1 Empoli: Mancuso shocks Allegri

“I told the lads it can be done. Now they have seen it can be done. We’re all the same, we have two legs, two arms and a heart. It can be done and that is what we bring home tonight, as well as the three points.

“I said this was a night we could tell our grandchildren about. Not even just the result, but a great performance here against these champions. I said let’s not miss this opportunity, it’s a gift to ourselves.”

Samuele Ricci was particularly impressive in midfield and is an Empoli youth product.

“I don’t talk about individuals. Everyone knows Ricci is an interesting lad, the club believes in him, but he also did some things tonight that I did not like. He has huge margins for improvement.

“The team is what made the difference this evening. I read that Juventus made 79 attacking moves and Empoli 70, so it wasn’t exactly much of a gap. Possession was 52-48, but it’s productivity that matters more than possession. I have no interest in sterile possession.

“Mentality needs time to change, you can get it done quicker if you achieve results like this. The lads then feel they can believe, they listen more to the coach and trust what we are doing.

“The lads managed to wangle an extra morning off, as they were meant to be in training tomorrow and talked me into giving them some rest. I was happy enough to have a lie-in too, mind you!

“They deserved it, as they have been working really well and earned this result.”

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