Jérémy Mathieu spoke in the mixed zone on Friday and put the record straight about his smoking habit. "I don't smoke much but I do it when I want. It's a personal thing. What counts is what happens on the pitch. People will forget when they see me run", he said.

Mathieu recently spoke about the subject in an interview with 'El Mundo Deportivo'. "Do I smoke? It's a bit of a personal thing. I'm not a smoker who smokes a pack every day. I haven't smoked for a fortnight right now. I've been caught and that's the way it is, but I don't smoke every day. I know that something has been published, but it doesn't matter", the new Barça centre-back added.

Mathieu was referring to a photo in which he was caught smoking when he was with some friends in Torrent. Although it was known in Valencia that the player smoked, the issue gained more magnitude when the cigarette photo was leaked and word spread like wildfire on social media.

According to Valencia newspaper 'Superdeporte', during the defender's time at the Mestalla, the club's directors and coaching staff tried to get Mathieu to give up smoking on several occasions, but to no avail. Club staff also met the player's wife in the hope she could persuade him.