Although we may not always agree with Luis Enrique, we sometimes have to concede to him some well-felt anticipations. On November 1, on the eve of his team’s trip to Marseille, the Spanish technician was questioned about the return date of the Portuguese striker, victim of a fractured left ankle during the first day of Ligue 1 against Le Havre (4-1, August 16), and what it could bring to its partners once recovered.
And the response was scathing: “It seems that Gonçalo is the solution to all the world’s ills. In reality, the solution is not in a player or two or even a player that we could sign and who would be the solution. The solution is to improve as a team. » Questioned again on the subject Friday before the reception in Nantes, he once again tried not to make a specific case of it.
Everything started well though…
This Saturday on the lawn of the Park, the former Benfica player was invited to start the match against the sick Canaries to certainly bring presence in the area. And his start to the match almost seemed to make Luis Enrique lie. From the 2nd minute, he deflected a cross from Nuno Mendes to the near post to find Achraf Hakimi alone in front of the goal (1-0). In the process, he was on the receiving end of two crosses from Lee (5th) then Ruiz (8th) but Patrik Calgren caught it easily.
At that precise moment, we said to ourselves that the Portuguese was inevitably going to influence the Parisian evening. But the light quickly went out. 11 small balls touched during the first act and no more than 15 before the hour mark, Ramos had difficulty finding his place, participating in the game or getting rid of Nicolas Pallois or Nathan Zeze. After the break, his second act finally saw a slight improvement but not in the style of a finisher. On a deflection, the Lusitanian international found Kang-in Lee or Hakimi and especially served Joao Neves who missed a clear opportunity (56th).
No shots in the second half
Despite his lack of rhythm (he played 20 minutes in Munich on Tuesday evening), Luis Enrique decided to let him finish the match, once again leaving Randal Kolo Muani persona non grata on the bench and preferring to leave Bradley Barcola and Kang-in Lee , equally ineffective. But he was unable to create any chances or even increase his shot total in the first period. Usually so effective in Ligue 1, the Parisians this time transposed their lack of realism in the Champions League to their domestic task. As if Ramos wasn’t the solution to all the world’s ills.
