Juventus vs. Empoli match preview: Time, TV schedule, and how to watch the Coppa Italia

As things currently stand, Juventus’ path to another Coppa Italia final is looking about as favorable as it has been in years. Considering that the Coppa — no matter how you feel about it — was probably going to be Juve’s best shot at silverware this season, that is probably something that is a little reassuring despite all of the despair lately.

The bracket as certainly fell in Juve’s favor.

And now, as we hit the quarterfinals, they look to further exploit that fact.

All that stands in the way of Juventus and a two-legged Coppa Italia semifinal matchup against Thiago Motta’s former squad, Bologna, is a quarterfinal clash against an Empoli squad that has not won in nearly three months. That’s it. That’s what Wednesday night will provide Juventus with — one of the most out of form squads in Serie A to try and get past and then you’re in the Coppa semifinals and path to the final in Rome that is quite manageable as compared to the other side of the bracket that has a very Milan flavor to it.

Yes, it’s the same Empoli side that Juventus recorded a 4-1 win against just a couple of weeks ago, although the way that matchup started will forever be etched into our brains. (Thanks for that, Mattia De Sciglio, you are the gift that always keeps on giving.)

But Empoli are in an awful run of form. They have tumbled down the Serie A table over the last couple of months. They are winless in their last 11 games, with nine of them being losses. Since De Sciglio’s goal against Juve at the Allianz on Feb. 8, Empoli haven’t found the back of the net again. They’ve lost their last three games by a combined score of 10-0, with the most recent loss coming in a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Atalanta, who are dealing with their own problems right now.

In short: Ever since Empoli’s last win on Dec. 8, no team in Serie A has earned fewer points than Roberto D’Aversa’s squad.

So, as you can probably figure out, Juventus — as they should be — are a massive favorite to go through to the Coppa semifinals considering just how bad their opposition has been since the beginning of December.

The catch in all of this is that Motta’s squad enters Wednesday night’s Coppa quarterfinal comes at a time in which the depth available is very much not anything close to optimal. This would be a matchup and a stage of the competition in which you’d try to rotate the squad as much as you can. But, just a couple of weeks after the injury situation was starting to let up, it’s suddenly gotten back to where it was a month or two ago when it felt like nearly half the squad was out injured.

Within the past week, we’ve seen three players — Renato Veiga, Andrea Cambiaso and Douglas Luiz — have to come off injured, with a fourth (Nicolo Savona) now set to miss at least a couple of weeks due to a muscle injury.

It’s a situation where Juve’s already extremely tired defense will get no respite with another midweek fixture. Rather than giving somebody like Federico Gatti who leads the team in minutes played by a considerable margin over any other outfield player, he will be asked to anchor the defense once again.

But you know what? Empoli don’t care about the injury situation that Juve are dealing with. They are looking for something, anything, to try and get things back on track so that they can put up a legitimate fight and potentially avoid relegation.

Juventus’ task Wednesday night, no matter who is actually available, is to get to the Coppa Italia semifinals. Simple as that.

TEAM NEWS

• Thiago Motta did not hold a pre-match press conference Tuesday, so we don’t know for sure about the condition of some players, but it’s safe to say that there will be several players out injured that were available at this point last week.
• The two main names added to the injured list coming out of the weekend are Douglas Luiz (again) and Nicolo Savona, with both players picking up thigh injuries against Cagliari and PSV Eindhoven, respectively.
• Also out injured and not sidelined for the rest of the season: Pierre Kalulu, Renato Veiga and Arek Milik.
• Despite coming off injured over the weekend against Cagliari, Andrea Cambiaso is being tipped by the Italian media to start at left back. If not, it will likely be Jonas Rouhi getting the start because there really isn’t anybody else available to play at left back.
• Another note from the Italian press, namely Sky Italia: This could be the game in which Motta plays both Dusan Vlahovic and Randal Kolo Muani from the start, with the Frenchman likely to play out wide on the right like he did in the second half against Cagliari.
• As is the case in the Coppa Italia, Mattia Perin will get the start in goal for Michele Di Gregorio. It will be just Perin’s second appearance in the 2025 calendar year after he got the start in the Champions League league phase finale against Benfica last month.

JUVENTUS PLAYER TO WATCH

Since there was no Motta pre-match presser, we’re going off the predicted lineups for this one. And with that comes one of the actual fullbacks that’s actually left.

This isn’t a case of “Juventus definitely need Andrea Cambiaso to beat Empoli” or anything like that. But it’s simply a case of seeing, to what extent, Cambiaso is looking like his usual self amidst a period of time in which his ankle his still probably still a bit of a thing and he was reportedly forced off against Cagliari due to a minor hip injury.

But, unlike other injured players over the past week, Cambiaso actually received some good news when it comes to potentially missing time. Meaning, he won’t miss any.

Considering just how limited options are all throughout the defense, having Cambiaso available is a positive development no matter if it’s Empoli in the Coppa Italia or a big matchup in Serie A. Juve need Cambiaso out there both because he’s a good player but also because they are simply in dire need of actual fullbacks to play, you know, as fullbacks. (That is to take nothing away from what Timothy Weah is currently doing, but as we know he is not a natural fullback.)

How will Cambiaso move now that he’s likely to be playing on a short rest for the first time in a while? How many minutes will have in his legs after starting his first game in a good amount of time? How much of a leash will Motta have because of both having to take Cambiaso off over the weekend and the limited options in defense?

Keeping Cambiaso healthy is important. But same goes for avoiding a massive, massive upset like Juve getting dumped out of the Coppa Italia would be. It’s a balancing act, and one that Motta will certainly have to play with one of his best players.

MATCH INFO

When: Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025.

Where: Allianz Stadium, Turin, Italy.

Official kickoff time: 9 p.m. in Italy and the Central European time zone, 8 p.m. in the United Kingdom, 3 p.m. Eastern time, 12 p.m. Pacific time.

HOW TO WATCH

Television: TLN (Canada); Canale 5 (Italy).

Online/Streaming: Paramount+ (United States); fuboTV Canada (Canada); OneFootball.com (United Kingdom); Mediaset Infinity (Italy).

Other live viewing options can be found here, and as always, you can also follow along with us live and all the stupid things we say on Twitter. If you haven’t already, join the community on Black & White & Read All Over, and join in the discussion below.