Lyon’s main objective as they walked out in front of a raucous Sukru Saracoglu Stadium appeared to be dampening the excitement of the home fans, and they excelled.
In an opening half high on noise but low on action, the Turkish side’s best opportunity came from a Matteo Guendouzi cross, with Vedat Muriqi sending his header over.
Les Gones, meanwhile, looked to absorb pressure and hit on the counter, but that strategy produced little in the way of offensive danger until five minutes before half time when they grabbed the opening goal.
Corentin Tolisso found a pocket of space on the right wing and stood up an inviting cross for Lois Openda, whose header needed a slight deflection off Milan Skriniar to beat Ederson in the home goal.
Having lost their Super Lig opener 2-1 against Genclerbirligi at the weekend, the Yellow Canaries roared into life after the break, needing just 90 seconds to bring themselves level.
There seemed little danger to Lyon's lead when Mason Greenwood picked up the ball, yet the Englishman danced his way into the penalty box before unleashing an unstoppable strike into the top corner.
In a breathless second half that threatened more than it delivered, both sides rattled the woodwork in their frantic search for a first-leg advantage.
Openda spun into space and smashed his low shot against the post from 20 yards out, while substitute Dorgeles Nene struck the upright from a tighter angle for Fener.
Ultimately, both sides meandered to a draw, setting up a tasty affair in France to decide who enters the UCL League Phase - having avoided defeat against Fenerbahce in their past six H2Hs, Lyon may be more confident of getting the job done.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Milan Skriniar (Fenerbahce)