Ramos nears PSG return as Sampaoli makes Rennes bow

Paris Saint-Germain hope to have striker Goncalo Ramos available again soon after he returned to training ahead of Friday’s game against Toulouse, while former Argentina coach Jorge Sampaoli makes his Ligue 1 return this weekend with Rennes.

Bradley Barcola has emerged as PSG’s chief attacking threat this season and is the league’s top scorer with 10 goals, but the lack of a reliable centre-forward remains an issue for Luis Enrique, particularly in the Champions League.

While the French champions are six points clear of Monaco in Ligue 1, they languish outside the top 24 in the new single-table format in Europe, with a trip to Bayern Munich coming up next Tuesday.

Before that comes the visit of a resurgent Toulouse, winners of their past three games after a rough start to the campaign and the only team to beat PSG in their last 40 league matches.

Toulouse beat PSG 3-1 in May to spoil Kylian Mbappe’s final game at the Parc des Princes, albeit with the title long since wrapped up by that stage.

It was hoped Ramos, who scored 14 times overall last season, would establish himself as the spearhead of the PSG attack, but he went down with ankle ligament damage in the opening day win over Le Havre in August.

“He’s in the final phase of his recovery. When will he be available? I don’t know, I’ll see him at training. He’s doing very well already. He just needs to sharpen up so he can play in matches,” PSG coach Luis Enrique said on Thursday.

Monaco could slice the gap at the top in half if they beat fellow Champions League participants Brest earlier on Friday, while Marseille must bounce back from a disheartening home defeat by Auxerre.

“If I’m the problem, I’m ready to leave. I’ll leave the money and hand back my contract,” raged