Marcelo Bielsa began his reign as Lille boss in style with an opening 3-0 win over Claudio Ranieri s Nantes in Ligue 1.
Feted coach Bielsa spent a year out of the game following his swiftly aborted tenure as Lazio boss and it was announced in February he would return to France s top flight, having proved a hit at Marseille in 2014-15.
Ranieri is back in the dugout after his Leicester City fairy tale ended on a sour note six months ago and, after a goalless first half, the genial Italian endured a hefty dose of reality at Stade Pierre-Mauroy.
Junior Alonso opened the scoring in the 48th minute, crashing home emphatically from the edge of the area after the Nantes defence failed to clear.
Nicolas de Preville scored a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture on the final day of last season and helped himself to another courtesy of a 67th-minute penalty after Nicolas Pallois fouled Kevin Malcuit.
Three minutes later, Anwar El Ghazi converted Rominigue Kouame s cross and unveiled a t-shirt paying tribute to his Abdelhak Nouri, his former Ajax team-mate who suffered severe brain damage after collapsing during a friendly against Werder Bremen last month.
— LOSC (@losclive)
Speaking after the match, Bielsa told reporters: We played with a lot of dynamism and pace, making very few mistakes. Our level of play was very high.
Newly promoted Strasbourg are up next for Lille, while Ranieri s men will aim to bounce back at home to Marseille next weekend.
