Guendouzi makes obscene gesture to Lyon fans before Champions League playoff

Mattéo Guendouzi made an obscene gesture toward one of the stands at Groupama Stadium during the warm-up for the second leg of the Champions League playoff between Olympique Lyonnais and Fenerbahçe on Wednesday evening. The gesture, captured by cameras, came with the score level at 1-1 after the first leg.

The French international (16 caps, 2 goals), who played for Marseille between 2021 and 2023 before joining Fenerbahçe, was expected to receive a hostile reception from Lyon supporters. Guendouzi chose to take the pitch first, amid boos from the stands. Both sections of supporters quickly directed chants at him, with insulting remarks. It was in response to these insults that the midfielder, a native of Poissy and trained notably at PSG, made the gesture toward one of the stands in the 59,000-capacity stadium.

The referees did not appear to notice the incident at the time, but UEFA has the option to open a disciplinary procedure after the fact and impose a suspension of several matches in European competitions on Guendouzi. The stakes are high for Fenerbahçe: if eliminated by Lyon, the Turkish club, led notably by Mason Greenwood, would be relegated to the Europa League.