Ligue 1 Review: Marseille defeat too much for Bielsa

Marcelo Bielsa stunned Marseille by walking out on the club after an opening-day defeat to Caen in Ligue 1.

Marseille were well in the title picture at the start of the 2014-15 campaign before falling away, and several stars such as Andre Ayew, Andre-Pierre Gignac and Dimitri Payet have since departed the Stade Velodrome.

And Bielsa’s side started the new term where they left off with a 1-0 loss at home to Caen, with Andy Delort’s goal proving the difference.

Monaco started their campaign with a come-from-behind victory at 10-man Nice.

Leonardo Jardim’s Monaco finished strongly to place third last term, and they showed their quality with a 4-0 battering of Young Boys in the UEFA Champions League third round of qualifying on Tuesday to wrap up a 7-1 aggregate win.

Their domestic campaign did not get off to a great start in the Cote d’Azur derby, though, as former Monaco striker Valere Germain put Nice into a seventh minute lead at the Allianz Riviera.

However, Olivier Boscagli was sent off for a second bookable offence shortly before half-time, and Monaco made the most of the numerical advantage as goals from Bernardo Silva and Layvin Kurzawa sealed the three points after the break.

Troyes were held to a 0-0 draw by fellow Ligue 1 new boys Gazelec Ajaccio, while Angers – also promoted to the top tier last season – started with a fine 2-0 victory at Montpellier.

Rounding off the action, a Jeremy Sorbon own goal in the 89th minute gifted Nantes a 1-0 victory against Guingamp, while Bastia came from behind to beat Rennes 2-1 despite having Brandao – who served a lengthy ban for headbutting Paris Saint-Germain’s Thiago Motta last season – sent off.