PARIS -- There have been few beneficiaries in the renewed tension between Kylian Mbappe and Paris Saint-Germain since the France international communicated his intention to leave Parc des Princes this summer when his contract expires but Goncalo Ramos has definitely profited from it. Since his arrival in Paris, the Portuguese star has struggled for consistent minutes with Mbappe and Randal Kolo Muani as competition for playing time in his preferred central striking role so the Frenchman's indication that he could be off to Real Madrid was perfectly timed for Ramos to recover his predatory touch in front of goal
In 2024, the former SL Benfica man has been enjoying a much stronger start to the second half of the current season than his first half of the campaign with his goal in Sunday's 2-2 draw with Stade de Reims in Ligue 1 the latest illustration of Ramos' continued turnaround in the capital. With six goals from 10 appearances across all competitions -- including a combined 20 minutes from three of those 10 outings -- the 22-year-old is up to six Championnat goals and has now scored in each of Les Parisiens' past four games in Paris having taken time to warm to his new teammates after his summer arrival.
Luis Enrique's insistence that PSG must build towards the future without Mbappe is seeing Ramos finally get the chances that he was starved of earlier this term and his goal as well as his involvement in Yunis Abdelhamid's own goal was no less than deserved from a busy first half showing. Mbappe remains certain to start for the big occasions such as the UEFA Champions League as evidenced midweek with the French superstar scoring twice as the French giants beat Real Sociedad 2-1 away to complete a 4-1 aggregate success -- the No. 7 even came on for the No. 9 after 73 minutes here but could not find the winner.
The big loser for now, though, is Randal Kolo Muani who appears to have slipped behind Ramos in the pecking order which makes him the third of PSG's three central attacking figures with Mbappe still out in front as long as he remains at Luis Enrique's disposal until this summer. Kolo Muani and Mbappe came on late against Reims along with Ousmane Dembele and Nuno Mendes to try to break the deadlock at 2-2 in a tight second half with Mbappe greeted by rapturous applause as he came on although it was too late for the hosts to avoid a third consecutive draw in Ligue 1.
👏 @Goncalo88Ramos #𝐏𝐒𝐆𝐒𝐃𝐑 | 𝟐-𝟏 pic.twitter.com/9I7s9lCTdh
— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) March 10, 2024
Somebody else who could bet set to struggle in the coming weeks is Achraf Hakimi who followed up a yellow card and suspension in the UCL in San Sebastian this past midweek with a dreadful error which allowed Will Still's purposeful Reims side to score first through Marshall Munetsi. The Morocco international will now miss the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinals against whoever PSG might be drawn to face but the bigger concern is his overall drop in form for the past few months which was not helped by an unsuccessful Africa Cup of Nations quest.
Luis Enrique must assess his options in replacing Hakimi for at least the opening leg of that final eight clash with Nordi Mukiele the most obvious fit in that position despite an on-off 2024 so far in terms of regular minutes which still included full 90-minute outings against Lille OSC and AS Monaco. Outside of the 26-year-old, though, there is no clear solution to Hakimi's absence for PSG and it will challenge the Spanish tactician who has also tried Carlos Soler and Warren Zaire-Emery in the role with neither midfielder being natural enough fits to be convincing for a big UCL game.
The result keeps PSG 10 points clear of surprise second-placed Stade Brestois 29 who went down 1-0 to last year's unexpected runners-up RC Lens in Ligue 1 on Saturday so Luis Enrique has breathing room to continue to give the likes of Ramos minutes at Mbappe's expense. Finding the solution for Hakimi's ban might be a bit trickier, though, and Reims was a reminder that there are a number of sides in the French topflight still queuing up to make life tough for the Championnat leaders at home or on the road with a sliding OGC Nice next up in the Coupe de France quarterfinals on Wednesday.
