Bayer Leverkusen troll Arsenal hours before Champions League clash after 'boring' criticism

Arsenal will take on Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League with the German side seeing the funny side of their opponent's quality from corners as they bid to stop them

Bayer Leverkusen has seen the funny side of Arsenal's set piece genius by placing a sign that said "no corners allowed" ahead of their Champions League clash.

The German side will host the Premier League leaders on Wednesday, hoping to secure an upset victory that would give them a chance of progressing beyond the last 16. They will need to contain Arsenal and, particularly, their quality from dead ball situations.

Arsenal's tactics and route to goal has been widely criticised, but the Bundesliga outfit saw the funny side and posted a picture of their sign covering the corner spot and included the words: "Worth a try".

The north Londoners sit top of the table in England, have a perfect record in Europe and are in contention for both domestic cups. It means the quadruple is still on the cards, even if their methods have proved very divisive.

Nearly 38 percent of their 58 league goals have stemmed from balls into the box, be that from corners of free-kicks. Tottenham frontman Mathys Tel has criticised the tactic and claimed that is makes for very boring viewing.

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In an interview with Zack Nani the Spurs star said: “I’ll tell you the truth, yes, it’s not exciting. It’s boring to watch; it’s really just a clash between two teams with their own ideas.

“There’s less spectacle. There’s no Vinicius pulling off a sombrero flick, no dribble, no Kylian [Mbappe] accelerating past you. Here, I’d say it’s more structured, maybe too much so. All those set-pieces, little details that can sometimes make the difference. But sometimes you think it might be too much. I told the assistant coach in charge of set-pieces, ‘Don’t put me on that one,’ because it’s a zoo.”

Arsenal don't see it that way with their players hailing the work of set piece coach Nicolas Jover. Ex-Leverkusen star Piero Hincapie said: "We pay attention to the details. Our set-piece strength is talked about all over Europe. That’s the result of daily training with our set-piece coach, Nico Jover."

The Gunners are favourites to claim the Champions League and have been placed on the so-called easier side of the draw. If they can get past Leverkusen they will face either Sporting Lisbon or Bodo/Glimt in the quarter-final.

Arteta knows that he cannot face the likes of Barcelona, PSG, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid or Manchester City until the final.