The post about the torn ACL went up on Wednesday. The comment arrived not long after.

“The hardest battles in football are often the ones nobody sees. I know that feeling, Kvara. But never forget what brought you this far, and don’t let a difficult moment make you doubt how far you can go. Keep that fire on. Your best is still to come,” Cristiano Ronaldo wrote.

For the 25-year-old Georgia winger, the identity of the sender was the point. Kvaratskhelia has spoken for years about Ronaldo as his boyhood idol, and the two have a specific shared night to point to: Gelsenkirchen, Euro 2024, the group-stage game Georgia won 2-0 against a Portugal side the winger had grown up watching.

The early goal and the shirt

Kvaratskhelia opened the scoring at Arena AufSchalke inside the second minute, Georges Mikautadze added a penalty in the second half, and Georgia walked into the knockout stage of a major tournament for the first time in the country’s history. Kvaratskhelia left the pitch holding Ronaldo’s shirt.

Read also: The Vuelta champion picked home over money. Movistar paid €85,000 to seal it

The piece he always comes back to is the pre-match conversation. Ronaldo had sought him out to wish him success, and the Georgia winger used the exchange to pump up his teammates.

“Before the match there was a meeting and he wished me success; I’d never imagine he would come and talk to me,” Kvaratskhelia said in Gelsenkirchen.

“When he comes to talk to you before the match, that’s amazing; that helped us believe we could do something today.”

Three PSG players down in one night

PSG beat Barcelona 4-2 on Tuesday in a Champions League group-stage match that cost them three starters. Ousmane Dembélé pulled up clutching the back of his left thigh in the 19th minute, and both Marquinhos (right thigh) and Kvaratskhelia were replaced on the hour mark at the Parc des Princes. Kvaratskhelia had landed awkwardly after sprinting back to make a tackle on Xavi Espart early in the second half, according to Al Jazeera.

Read also: “I told the players to stop running” – Fabregas makes brutal Man Utd admission

Scans on Wednesday confirmed a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. PSG said he would undergo surgery in the coming days without putting a return date on it. Sky Sports reported his season was over, and Onefootball put the lay-off at more than six months.

‘I won’t waste a second’

Kvaratskhelia’s own Instagram post landed hours before Ronaldo’s comment.

“Before every game I play, I ask God to leave the field healthy, but in vain,” he wrote.

“I know I have to come back stronger for my people who always have my back. I won’t let you down, I promise, I won’t waste a second.”

Read also: Liverpool handed fresh chance to sign Chelsea star after major transfer U-turn

PSG captain Marquinhos, himself facing a spell on the sidelines, replied on the same post: “We’re all with you in this battle, brother.”

Surgery is set for the coming days.

Read also: Muchova seals the final WTA Finals spot as Swiatek ends her season early