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.