Sevilla's Corchia is determined to live up to Montella's faith in him

Sebastien Corchia is enjoying life in the Sevilla starting XI and has expressed his gratitude to coach Vincenzo Montella for showing confidence in his ability.

Corchia was an off-season recruit from Lille, where he was a mainstay in the team's line-up – playing all 38 Ligue 1 matches in 2016-17 – however the Frenchman struggled to cement himself in Eduardo Berizzo's side, a victim of the Argentine coach's rotation policy.

But since Berizzo's axing in December, Corchia has quickly established himself as Montella's first-choice right-back.

Corchia impressed as Sevilla staged a dramatic comeback to beat Atletico Madrid 2-1 in the first leg of their Copa del Rey quarter-final on Wednesday, securing the club's first win at Atleti in any competition since 2008.

Speaking to 'Omnisport', Corchia – determined to repay Montella's faith – said: "It has been a good experience with our new coach. For me personally it is great that he is Italian, because I am half Italian myself, with dual citizenship for France and Italy.

"It is easy for me to talk to my coach and understand him perfectly, because we share the same language. I feel he has confidence in me, and I will do everything to live up to that".

He continued: "Our coach talks a lot with the players - also in individual talk, and that is great. We work hard to become better as a team, and with a better tactical understanding and organisation. All the players worked together on the pitch against Atletico, and the win was because of the power and both physical and mental performance level that we put into the game".

"Our coach wants us to be more aggressive, and when we have the ball, he wants us to play faster and with a lot of movement. His goal is for us both to play good football and of course to win.

He concluded: "I believe that we have the right squad with so many players of a high quality to play like this, so I am sure that we will improve and finish this season on a high."

As well as preparing for the return leg of the Copa tie, Sevilla are sixth in LaLiga and only three points behind fourth-placed Real Madrid ahead their Champions League last-16 showdown with Manchester United.