Coach Roberto D'Aversa said Empoli's players had made history by getting to the Coppa Italia semi-finals.

The Serie A strugglers beat Juventus 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Stadium on Wednesday, making light of their poor form in the league.

Empoli went into the game on the back of an 11-match winless run, throughout which they had taken just two points, while they also rotated their team heavily.

But despite this, they took the lead through Youssef Maleh and were able to get through after a dramatic penalty shoot-out.

“The lads wrote a page in the history books for this club and we can use this for our Serie A future, because we’ve got a crucial game coming up this weekend in Genoa,” D’Aversa told Mediaset.

“We were coming off a heavy defeat, so I asked the lads to give a response with their pride and they went above and beyond that.

"We will enjoy this wonderful achievement, also considering there were three players who were products of our youth academy.

“I hope this will show the players that if they approach games with this attitude every time, then we will certainly achieve our objective.”

Empoli were hammered 5-0 by Atalanta in their most recent game prior to the Coppa quarter-final, and are currently third-bottom in Serie A and on course for relegation.

So, to eliminate Juventus was a tall order, and D'Aversa was proud of how his players dealt with the pressure of taking penalties.

“During the penalties, the lads were calm like veterans, despite there being so many youngsters in the side," he said.

"It was a difficult moment and I won’t lie, I was not expecting this. Taking those penalties at the end with the Juventus ultras was all the more remarkable.

“We take this wonderful qualification, but also the confidence that the result will give us going forward.”

Empoli will face Bologna in a two-legged semi-final of the Coppa Italia in April.