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Former Barca Star Will Happily Celebrate Scoring Against Them After Slamming Club's Management

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Jeremy Mathieu has admitted that he will celebrate if he scores for Sporting CP in the Champions League against Barcelona on Wednesday.

The Frenchman left Catalonia on a free transfer at the end of last season, and has bemoaned the treatment from club president Josep Maria Bartomeu and sports director Robert Fernandez.

But Mathieu has stressed that he has no hard feelings towards Barcelona's players and supporters.

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"I have a lot of respect for my former teammates and the fans," he told Marca. "If I celebrate a goal, it will be for Bartomeu and Robert Fernandez, because I think the way they treated me was very difficult for me."

Mathieu added: "It was incredible for me to share the dressing room with players like that. Friends. Friend is a very big word.

"I spoke with everyone but away from the pitch I am a family person and I prefer to be with my children and my wife.

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"I tried to do the best possible when I was there. I played a lot and I did the best I could in the three years I was there. The first two were fantastic for me and only the final was more complex but that is football.

"I played a lot, I won titles and the only sad thing is that people say I did not play a lot. In my first season I played 58 percent of games and scored important goals. 

"In the second I played less, say 53-54% which is also not bad and in the final year it was difficult with the injuries and the lack of confidence from the coach but that's the way it was."