Werder Bremen forward Marko Arnautovic has criticised the German media for exaggerating his off-pitch issues.

The 24-year-old and his teammate Eljero Elia have been suspended after being caught speeding on an Autobahn at 3am the day before Bremen's 1-0 away loss to Bayer Leverkusen last weekend.

"When I drop a lighter and the media sees it, it is written up as an explosion," he told News.at. "Mountains are made out of molehills.

"People bad-mouth me. That hurts. Nothing against the police, but they succeeded in tearing me apart. We want to destroy Arnautovic, we kick him because that is fun. Everybody gets a kick out of it.

"[Mario Balotelli] also has a bad image and still only plays for top clubs regardless. His coaches look at his sporting qualities."

Arnautovic joined Bremen from Twente in June 2010.

Written by
Subhankar Mondal