Verona were on the end of a 4-3 thriller this time, as they capitulated at home to Empoli in the Coppa Italia, so the Tuscans will face Inter in the Round of 16.
Hellas came back from 3-0 down to beat Venezia 4-3 in Serie A 10 days ago, but ran out of time before a similar turnaround.
It didn’t start well for Empoli, who lost Nicolas Haas to a sprained knee in the opening three minutes, but Andrea La Mantia put them in front after a smart Filippo Bandinelli back-heel flick.
Matteo Cancellieri equalised and only the crossbar prevented Kevin Lasagna putting Verona in front.
Instead, Leonardo Mancuso converted a penalty for Antonino Ragusa’s handball, followed swiftly by his rebound on a parried Leo Stulac strike.
Nedim Bajrami made it 4-1 for Empoli moments later with a right-foot volley from the edge of the box.
Verona staged another comeback, 18-year-old Mattia Florio hitting the post before Ivan Ilic saw his free kick deflected and Ragusa sprung the offside trap, but Empoli hung on for the win, even after a straight red card for La Mantia’s lunge.