Leverkusen, who drew 1-1 with the English Premier League leaders in the first leg at their home ground, Bay Arena, after scoring an opening goal from a set-piece similar to Mikel Arteta’s tactics, also made an impression off the pitch.

Before the home match, Leverkusen’s media team demonstrated that Germans are not as humorless as often perceived. Instead, they engaged in witty social media interactions, playfully mocking Arsenal while also showing respect for their strengths. Specifically, the Bundesliga club posted a picture on X, featuring a sign that read "no corner kicks," accompanied by the caption: "Worth a try, right?"

The image posted on Leverkusen's social media page before the Champions League round of 16 first leg on 12/3. Photo: X

Not stopping there, Leverkusen also shared a short video detailing their "unconventional" preparations for the match. The video, set in the Arsenal changing room at Bay Arena, showed a club employee watching a famous clip of Arteta's motivational speech from the documentary All or Nothing: Arsenal on Amazon Prime.

The scene depicted the Spanish coach addressing his team before a match against Brighton at the end of the 2021-2022 Premier League season. Arteta, holding a plugged-in light bulb, delivered a message about unity: "I want to see a united team, because the light bulb itself cannot shine. I want to see each of you connect with each other and, from that, shine. I want you to transmit light, energy, and passion, as well as how you sacrifice for each other. Each of us must play connected football, uniting with the 60,000 fans in the stands to generate even more energy. That is the electricity that flows through, igniting light and life."

Immediately, the Leverkusen employee taped over all electrical outlets in the changing room, hid a portable power strip under his shirt, and turned off all the lights. This action playfully implied preventing Arteta's team from implementing their motivational methods for the match.

This video post garnered 4,6 million views, with over 5 nghin comments, 18 nghin shares, and 97 nghin likes.

Following this media success, Leverkusen continued their teasing posts aimed at Arsenal leading up to the second leg in London, England. On 16/3, the red and black team posted an image on X, showing a corner flag at Emirates Stadium. The square corner was edited to appear rounded, with a bucket of white paint beside it. The caption read: "Looks better this way." The message, once again, suggested Leverkusen's attempt to prevent Arsenal from executing their signature corner kick routines on their home turf.

Leverkusen's message, implying they do not want Arsenal to take corner kicks.

On the same day, Leverkusen posted another image: a checklist of tasks to complete for the two-legged tie. The four objectives listed were: taping all electrical outlets, painting the corner flag rounded, preventing Arsenal from being awarded a penalty (a crucial task), and stopping "dark arts."

The first two objectives were marked as completed. The third task depended on the match developments at Emirates and was included because Arsenal had previously scored a 1-1 equalizer in the first leg from a penalty by Kai Havertz.

The fourth task — "stopping dark arts" — was accompanied by three question marks, a deliberate reference by Leverkusen. In late 2025, British media reported that Arteta wanted Arsenal's training sessions to take place entirely in the dark, hoping his players could develop ball-winning skills "like a hunter."

A humorous checklist of tasks Leverkusen had to complete for the match against Arsenal.

Although this information was unverified, Leverkusen did not hesitate to reference it in their post, creating a lighthearted atmosphere before the second leg.

Ha Phuong compiled