Milan: Andrea Pirlo got his coaching career off to a winning start as Juventus launched their bid for a 10th consecutive league title with a 3-0 win over Sampdoria on Sunday.

Swedish debutant Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring after 13 minutes in Turin with Leonardo Bonucci adding a second on 78 minutes and Cristiano Ronaldo a late third.

The match was played in front of 1,000 spectators as Serie A stadiums reopened on Sunday to a limited number of fans after a seven-month coronavirus lockdown.

Pirlo could not have hoped for a better start to his coaching career having taken over from Maurizio Sarri this summer.

The win against Sampdoria, coached by veteran Claudio Ranieri, came just days after the former Italy and Juventus star received his coaching diploma.

“It will take time to put together the mode of play, but I will not copy and paste,” warned the 41-year-old.

“I will take inspiration from teams that have impressed -- there was little time, the lads returned from the national teams, we only worked together for a week.”

Juventus handed debuts to new signing Weston McKennie and Kulusevski, who joined from Atalanta in January before immediately returning to Parma on loan.

Juventus next head to Roma next week after the side from the capital were held to a goalless draw in their opener on Saturday, before hosting Napoli, 2-0 winners this weekend against Parma.

Genoa kicked off their campaign with a 4-0 win at home against promoted Crotone with Sassuolo and Cagliari settling for a 1-1 draw.

Agence France-Presse


Italian League late results on Sunday:
Genoa 4 (Destro 6, Pandev 9, Zappacosta 34, Pjaca 75) Crotone 1 (Riviere 28); Sassuolo 1 (Bourabia 87) Cagliari 1 (Simeone 77); Juventus 3 (Kulusevski 13, Bonucci 78, Ronaldo 88) Sampdoria 0