Arsenal's Mesut Ozil and Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos have clashed on their views regarding Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's extravagant goal celebrations.
The Gabonese striker is well known for donning superhero masks after scoring, with Kroos describing Aubameyang's trademark celebrations as 'very silly' on his podcast Einfach mal Luppen .
Ozil has since tweeted a message of support to his Arsenal team-mate, naming his Black Panther-themed effort against Rennes in the Europa League last year as 'the best goal celebration'.
The 32-year-old has locked horns with compatriot Kroos before, most notably over the latter's reaction when Ozil announced his retirement from the German national side two years ago.
He said he had faced 'racism and disrespect' due to his Turkish roots in a statement announcing his decision to rule himself out of international contention.
Kroos firmly rejected these claims, insisting that Ozil was not a victim of discrimination.
"Basically Mesut is a deserved international and as a player he deserved a better departure, but the way he resigned was not in order," the Real Madrid midfielder told Bild, as reported by The Guardian.
"The parts in his statement that are rightly addressed are unfortunately overshadowed by the significantly higher amount of nonsense.
"I think he knows very well that racism within the national team and the DFB does not exist."
Ozil's agent Erkut Sogut responded by slamming Kroos along with Manuel Neuer and Thomas Muller, who also questioned the midfielder's claims.
"Neuer indirectly accused Mesut of not having worn the German jersey with pride," Sogut told German magazine 11Freunde.
"This is unacceptable. Muller did not understand the whole discussion. And Kroos, as a seasoned national team player, should explain what he means by ‘nonsense’.
"There are only two explanations: they are either naive or scheming."
Ozil has been frozen out at Arsenal under Mikel Arteta, with the 32-year-old not being involved for the first-team since March.
He has featured alongside Kroos for Germany on 64 occasions.
Both players started the 2014 FIFA World Cup final against Argentina that saw Joachim Low's side claim their fourth world title.
