• Champions League

Ozil hits back at Scholes' Monaco shirt-swap criticism

Arsenal playmaker Mesut Ozil has brushed off criticism of him swapping shirts with a Monaco player at half-time of Tuesday Champions League clash, asking: "Aren't there more important things to talk about?"

Ozil was caught on camera exchanging shirts with Monaco midfielder Geoffrey Kondogbia as the pair walked off the pitch at the midway point of Arsenal's 2-0 round-of-16 second-leg win at the Stade Louis II, a result that saw the Gunners miss out on a Champions League quarterfinal berth by losing the tie 4-3 on aggregate.

The Germany international's actions provoked criticism, notably from former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes in his role as a television pundit, but the 26-year-old responded with a shrug of the shoulders to the controversy.

"Perhaps I should have given him the shirt in the tunnel, yes," Ozil told German agency SID. "But seriously people, aren't there more important things to talk about in a knockout game than swapping shirts?"

Ozil added that Kondogbia had initiated the exchange by offering the former Real Madrid man his shirt as they were leaving the field at the break.

"I simply wanted to do him a favour," Ozil explained.

Scholes, 40, was working for British broadcaster ITV at the game in the principality, and told viewers he did not approve of Ozil's actions

"I don't like it - at the end of the game, maybe," he said. "But I'm not a big fan even then.

"You do it once you're in the tunnel or once you're in the dressing room, out of the way of everyone. At half-time, it's not for me."

Andre Santos, then of Arsenal, faced similar criticism after swapping shirts with former Gunners striker Robin van Persie at half-time of his club's 2-1 defeat to Manchester United in 2012.

Mesut Ozil insists that he was doing Geoffrey Kondogbia a favour after the Monaco midfielder asked for his shirt © AP

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