The Viola lost on penalties after the score finished 2-2 on Wednesday night. The result comes just days after Fiorentina midfielder Edouardo Bove collapsed on the pitch against Inter Milan.
Afterwards, Palladino conceded the welfare of their teammate was still front of mind.
How did he experience the Bove moment and how did it help the team?
"Obviously something so serious has a backlash. We spent three days always thinking about Edo and on an emotional level it definitely took something away from us. The team was tense in the first half, not calm, we made mistakes that we usually don't make. The lads gave it their all, I have no complaints. In the second half we then metabolised it and the performance was excellent: we created a lot, we put Empoli in difficulty and turned it around. It's a shame we conceded a second goal similar to the first. It seemed like a bit of a cursed match, it's a shame to go out."
How do you bring your team back to normal?
"I made the formation that I thought was the best possible for today. I rotate a lot but on Sunday we hardly played and on Monday we didn't train. I gave continuity to the Inter players, then Adli had a fever."
Why such big mistakes on goals?
"The first goal was a mistake in construction, a rebound that put the Empoli player in front of the goalkeeper. On the second they spoiled our play but it's not a very serious mistake. They did well to get past us, we paid dearly for the slightest lack of concentration. More than anything we should have made better use of the opportunities we created, their goalkeeper was the best on the pitch. We usually do better."
Can Richardson become essential with Bove's absence?
"For me he's growing and can still do so a lot. This summer he didn't know the language and he found different automatisms. He's giving it his all, he still has to learn Italian well: this will help him. He was out for a while but now he's back and working well. I count on him a lot."
Had you thought about letting Martinelli play?
"He'll play Thursday in the Conference. I wanted to split it up and have everyone play in these three games. We'll see him on Thursday, it'll be his turn too and he's happy."
How is Gudmundsson?
"He made a great run, his injury was really tough. Today he was supposed to play 10 minutes, we forced his entry a bit and we'll see how he'll be in the next few days. But we have to be good at rationing him out."