Former Arsenal star sparks mass brawl involving fans during Champions League play-off clash

Former Arsenal midfielder Matteo Guendouzi sparked a mass brawl and became involved in an altercation with a fan during Fenerbahce’s Champions League play-off victory over Lyon.

The Turkish giants booked their spot in the Champions League for the first time since 2008/09 with a 2-1 win (3-2 on aggregate) at the Groupama Stadium, with Vedat Muriqi and Archie Brown’s strikes ensuring victory despite Malick Fofana’s second-half goal.

After the final whistle, fiery scenes followed, with both sets of players and staff clashing on the pitch and in the tunnel. Former Arsenal star Guendouzi was at the centre of the mass brawl, with the 27-year-old, who previously played for arch-rivals Marseille, appearing to taunt Lyon supporters by holding his arms out in celebration.

The midfielder had to be pulled down the tunnel by his teammates while he continued to gesture and shout “Allez l’OM” at TV cameras and towards the home fans, who began launching missiles towards him after booing him throughout the contest.

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Reports have even surfaced suggesting a Lyon fan in a white tracksuit attacked Guendouzi during the melee.

Speaking to the media after the match, the Frenchman addressed the unsavoury scenes, saying: “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...

“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. 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.”

Meanwhile, Fenerbahce head coach Ismail Kartal gave his take on the brawl at his post-match press conference.

He said: “One of their coaches attacked Guendouzi. As a team, we all stood by Guendouzi. That's what it means to be a team. They showed everyone that tonight.”

It is unclear if either side will face punishment from UEFA.