Guendouzi breaks silence after karate kick sparks Champions League qualifying tunnel brawl

Matteo Guendouzi found himself at the centre of a violent tunnel confrontation after Fenerbahce’s 2-1 win over Lyon — a result that sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory and a place in this season’s Champions League — when the former Arsenal midfielder’s taunting of the Lyon supporters triggered a mass brawl involving players and staff from both clubs.

As Guendouzi made his way toward the tunnel, he was seen gesturing toward the Lyon fans — fierce rivals of his former club Olympique Marseille — before Lyon’s goalkeeper coach Antonio Ferreira charged at him and landed a karate kick. The incident escalated into a melee in which players from both sides exchanged punches, with Ferreira eventually pinned against a wall by Fenerbahce players.

Speaking in the mixed zone after the match, Guendouzi was unapologetic, insisting the provocation had come from the stands throughout the entire evening. “When you have 60,000 people insulting your family, your mother, your children, even before the game and no one on the referee’s side tells the crowd to be quiet,” he said. “For 90 minutes, even longer with the warm-up, they insulted my family. It’s something that gets to you.”

Guendouzi argued his celebration — the “Jul sign”, a gesture associated with the French rapper and a symbol popular among Marseille supporters — was harmless banter that should be viewed in the same spirit as Lyon players celebrating in front of the Vélodrome crowd. “Everyone knows I support OM; I’ve never hidden it,” he said. “There is nothing malicious about the Jul sign.”

Lyon midfielder Corentin Tolisso took a different view, calling on Guendouzi to show more restraint in victory. “You have to stay humble in victory, go celebrate that with your team in the locker room,” Tolisso said. “Well done, congratulations to them, but there’s no real need to do that.”

Fenerbahce head coach Ismail Kartal stood firmly behind his player, framing the collective response as a show of team spirit. “As a team we all stood together to support Guendouzi,” Kartal said. “That is what teamwork is all about.”

The incident is not the first time Guendouzi has courted controversy on a football pitch. The Frenchman was effectively banished from Arsenal’s squad in 2020 after grabbing then-Brighton forward Neal Maupay by the throat during a Premier League match and was heard taunting Brighton players about their wages. He subsequently left the Gunners and has since rebuilt his career, joining Fenerbahce ahead of this campaign.