It seemed too familiar for Lyon in the early going, even if the faces were different. Nabil Fékir is flagged offside, Mariano Díaz finds himself in a good position but shoots straight into the hands of the Strasbourg goalkeeper Bingourou Kamara, and Memphis Depay, hugging the touchline, foolishly concedes a throw-in. Fékir and Lyon’s three other attackers, Depay, Díaz and Bertrand Traoré, looked set to dazzle without any end product, their skill on the ball for nought as they struggled to break down a side who looked dangerous on the counter.

Without the sublime finishing of Alexandre Lacazette and the inventiveness of Mathieu Valbuena, Lyon’s attack looked dire indeed, portending a potentially long season of underachievement. It also seemed set to offer a firm rebuke to the club’s hierarchy as to their buying strategy. The sums Lyon recouped for Lacazette and the midfielder Corentin Tolisso were impressive but in turning them into Traoré and Díaz, having bought Depay in January, the team’s tactic of purchasing younger players (Fekir, a month past his 24th birthday, was the oldest player in the front six on Saturday) who had seemingly failed to live up to their potential at the world’s biggest clubs looked a specious policy.

Depay had struggled badly in Manchester after his transfer from PSV, chafing under the direction of José Mourinho and barely featuring last season. He had the occasional moment of brilliance in 2016-17 after joining Les Gones in January but doubts remained over his ability to be a consistently potent attacking threat. Traoré, still 21, had been on the books of Chelsea for what seemed an age but even after impressing with Ajax last season, he was apparently no closer to the first team at Stamford Bridge. Díaz, a product of Real Madrid’s academy and a prolific scorer at reserve level, faced a similar lack of options, having played only 300 minutes across all competitions in his first season with the first team.

It seemed thus, that, 20 minutes into their season, Lyon were learning the hard way that feeding on the bigger clubs’ scraps while letting their own academy’s best depart was hardly a recipe for success. Beyond the aforementioned trio of recent arrivals, though, perhaps more focus was placed on Fékir, whose brilliant 2014-15 season had even led to the France manager, Didier Deschamps, altering his tactics to suit the playmaker. Played in an experimental 4-3-1-2 against Albania in September 2015, Fékir suffered a cruciate ligament injury and when Lyon ended up finishing second again, scarcely a thought was given to him.

A year ago, Fékir turned up for the season overweight and disinterested, and struggled to regain his form. His bad attitude was exemplified by a stamp on the then Nice defender Paul Baysse’s arm in a match and it seemed a lost season and potentially a lost career for the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year 18 months prior. Fékir showed some glimpses of improved form down the back end of the season but still appeared to lack the cutting edge and consistency of his best period.

He turned up for the current campaign looking in better shape and more committed, scoring with regularity in the pre-season. He was even somewhat surprisingly named captain; a role most had thought Jérémy Morel or Anthony Lopes would be better suited. Even with the armband, on Saturday it appeared that those gains were ephemeral. When there were points to be won, Fékir again looked frustrated and unimaginative, lacking both the leadership and the quality to drive Lyon back to being a Champions League fixture.

It would scarcely suffice to say, then, that what followed from Lyon over the next 70 minutes was scarcely believable. A bit of trickery from Depay allowed Diaz to give the hosts the lead and more chances followed before the interval. Early in the second half, Traoré won a penalty, superbly converted by Fékir, before Diaz and Fékir again burnished the result in the final minute, allowing Lyon to top the table after Ligue 1’s first match day – an emphatic validation for their reconfigured attack.

Joy for Mariano Díaz after his goal. Photograph: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images

There are certainly a host of caveats. Strasbourg, a promoted side, were playing on the road and young goalkeeper Bingourou Kamara was making his first top-flight appearance having moved from Tours. Some of the players, indeed had not even played professional football prior to last season, having joined the club before two successive promotions, and a raucous Parc OL may have proved too intimidating.

Still, Lyon could scarcely have asked for a better start, and one feels if they are to have any significant success, their young quartet of “has-beens” continuing to find a measure of redemption will have to be at its heart. The best sides are always methodical in their success, never putting results in doubt, and that was far from Lyon’s forte last season; this lays down an important marker for the current campaign.

Talking points

• As Andy Delort’s arrowed shot skipped passed Monaco’s Danijel Subasic on Friday night, you could be forgiven for thinking the Ligue 1 title was already Paris-bound. Trimmed of three top performers and Neymar’s historic transfer amounted to a seismic shift in momentum away from Leonardo Jardim’s previously triumphant title-winning Monaco. Delort had followed Zinédine Machach in giving Toulouse the lead either side of a Jemerson header, with Toulouse sharp on the counter. Nevertheless, crucially for Les Monegasques, and perhaps the league, Falcao and Kamil Glik completed a hat-trick of headed goals to wrestle all three points away from a furious Pascal Dupraz and his side. Despite the season’s obvious infancy, needlessly dropped points on the first day would have been a meaningful psychological blow. But despite the shift in focus, Monaco should remain buoyant. Although they process differing skill sets, Youri Tielemans and João Moutinho should comfortably account for Tiémoué Bakayoko’s absence, as Chelsea fans may soon discover, the rangy midfielder has his limitations at this stage in his career. While the gap left by Benjamin Mendy should be ably filled by Jorge and Almamy Touré, a £52m fee is more than a good deal for Monaco. The, admittedly significant, issues for Jardim will be adequately replacing Bernardo Silva and keeping Kylian Mbappé. Retaining their title, with Neymar and PSG clear favourites would easily surpass last year’s achievements but Paris would be wise to remember; they did not see them coming last season either.

• Neymar did not play on Saturday as PSG eased past Amiens at the Parc des Princes. His move to France is not only the standout story of the season but should be seen as a watershed moment for French domestic football. Despite the £198m signing’s diplomatic and magnanimous tone during Friday’s unveiling, the underlying causes of the move would still seem to be personal rather than an interest in the “project”. It would appear that the “bigger challenge” he spoke of, though implicit, is winning the Ballon d’Or. The implication being that this challenge could not be undertaken in Leo Messi’s substantial shadow. The fact that Neymar appears to view PSG and Ligue 1 as capable of elevating him to the level of Cristiano Ronaldo and Messi helps underline Ligue 1’s increasing relevance. A series of frustrating, flakey performances in Europe over recent seasons has reinforced the notion that French sides have a tendency to collapse in tight ties. However, Monaco’s electrifying campaign, Lyon’s Europa League semi-final, investment at Marseille and Marcelo Bielsa’s and Claudio Ranieri’s returns have added weight, star quality and engendered a higher standard of football among the upper reaches. Neymar’s decision to join PSG can undoubtedly also be attributed to money, the motivations of his entourage, the persuasive powers of the Parisiens’ Brazilian contingent and personal acclaim, but it shows Ligue 1 is edging closer to realising its vast potential.

Edinson Cavani, right, after opening the scoring. Photograph: Alfonso Jimenez/Rex/Shutterstock

• Perhaps the most attractive tie of the opening weekend came on Sunday lunchtime between two returning managers. Bielsa had been coaxed back to Ligue 1 by Gérard Lopez as the new Lille manager with the promise of deep pockets, extensive youth development and oversight to mould the club in his own image. Bielsa left Marseille after only one season, having catapulted OM to the summit by Christmas 2014 before they disintegrated in the spring to finish fourth. Although Bielsa is an enthralling appointment, a long-term ‘project’ historically, hardly suits him. As OM fans discovered, his sides often burn out by the turn of the calendar year, unable to sustain the intensity he demands. Bielsa’s new-look Lille continued the Chilean’s now well-worn form; hitting the ground running in beating Ranieri’s Nantes 3-0. Bielsa’s task will be pinpointing a slightly more even-handed, sustainable approach that suits a strong group, reinforced to the tune of €50m via Lopez’s wallet. Ranieri and Nantes are, on the other hand, simply looking for consistency. After two dire 14th-place finishes under Michel Der Zakarian, struggling for goals and lacking in ambition frustratingly became the norm, something René Girard merely escalated before Sergio Conceição sparked what is a talented group of players into some stirring displays and a surprise seventh place. Although the foundations had been laid by Conceição, tempted away by Porto in the summer, Ranieri seems to be focusing on his own ideas; a proclivity towards the conservative and a move towards three centre-backs in pre-season. This is a perhaps unwise given the success of Conceição but if Sunday proved anything, it’s that both managers have some way to go to prove they can achieve long-term Ligue 1 success.

Results: Monaco 3-2 Toulouse, PSG 2-0 Amiens, Lyon 4-0 Strasbourg, Metz 1-3 Guingamp, Montpellier 1-0 Caen, St Étienne 1-0 Nice, Troyes 1-1 Rennes, Lille 3-0 Nantes, Angers 2-2 Bordeaux, Marseille 3-0 Dijon.