Matteo Guendouzi Faces Four-Match Suspension After Post-Match Clashes

Matteo Guendouzi has been hit with a four-match European suspension – half of it suspended – and a hefty fine after his role in the ugly post-match clashes that followed Fenerbahce’s Champions League play-off victory at Lyon.

Uefa announced that the Fenerbahce midfielder will miss two European fixtures outright, with a further two games hanging over him during a one-year probationary period. He has also been fined 50,000 euros (£43,000).

The punishment stems from what Uefa described as “insulting others present at the match, provoking spectators and violating the basic rules of decent conduct” in the aftermath of Fenerbahce’s aggregate 3-2 win, which sealed their place in the league stage.

The governing body did not stop there. Mason Greenwood, Fenerbahce’s English forward, received a one-match suspended ban, also under a one-year probation, and a 30,000-euro (£26,000) fine. His charge was listed as “violating the basic rules of decent conduct”.

Tension between the clubs had already been high, with Greenwood having joined Fenerbahce in the summer from Marseille, one of Lyon’s fiercest rivals. The scenes after the final whistle only deepened the bad blood.

Lyon’s bench did not escape scrutiny. Goalkeeping coach Antonio Ferreira has been handed a five-match touchline ban, with two of those matches suspended, after Uefa deemed his actions a “serious assault” during the confrontations that erupted following the final whistle.

Both clubs have also been hit in the pocket. Uefa fined Lyon and Fenerbahce 50,000 euros each for their teams “violating the general and basic rules of conduct”.

The bans now hang over the early weeks of the European campaign, a sharp reminder that Fenerbahce’s hard-fought progress on the pitch has come at a disciplinary cost off it.