Guendouzi taunts Lyon crowd and sparks mass brawl as Fenerbahce seal Champions League place

Matteo Guendouzi sparked a mass brawl and was pelted with missiles by supporters at Lyon’s Groupama Stadium on Wednesday after celebrating provocatively as Fenerbahce sealed a 3-2 aggregate victory in their Champions League play-off, advancing to the league phase.

The 27-year-old French midfielder, who spent three seasons at Lyon’s fierce rivals Marseille, lifted his arms and taunted the home crowd at the final whistle. Dozens of players and staff from both sides rushed onto the pitch in the chaotic scenes that followed, with Fenerbahce team-mates Romelu Lukaku and former Manchester City goalkeeper Ederson among those who rallied around him.

A man in a white jacket, believed to be a member of Lyon’s staff, aggressively confronted Guendouzi as security struggled to contain the situation. The midfielder continued shouting towards Lyon supporters as he made his way to the dressing room.

Guendouzi later explained his behaviour, citing sustained abuse directed at his family throughout the match. “If 60,000 people are insulting your family, your mother, your children before the match even starts, and no one — not the referees or any other officials in the stadium — says a word,” he said, according to Turkish outlet Aykiri.

“In France, when things like this happen, they would talk to the fans and tell them to stop, or else the match would be halted. But here, for more than 90 minutes — including during warm-ups — they insulted my family, my wife, my children.”

The former Arsenal academy product, who joined Fenerbahce after his time at Marseille, said the abuse had deeply affected him. “It was a situation that really got to me, that deeply affected me. For me, it was complete disrespect. And on top of that, if we can’t even celebrate the way we want, to me that’s total injustice — it’s truly heartbreaking.”

Fenerbahce’s place in the Champions League league phase was confirmed with the win, and the club learned their group-stage opponents when the draw took place later on Thursday.