The Barcelona team met and comforted Gavi when the Spanish midfielder returned to their training ground for the first time since hurting his knee badly.

His anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was torn in the first half of Spain’s game against Georgia on Sunday night.

Gavi left the field in tears after pulling up and clutching his knee after only 26 minutes of the 3-1 win at Estadio Jose Zorrilla in Valladolid. This made head coach Luis de la Fuente make a change.

After the game, the boss looked sad as he talked about Gavi’s injury as the “ugly part of football.”  “It is a very hard time for Gavi, Barcelona, the national team, and me. It looks like we lost the game,” De la Fuente said, adding that it had been “the bitterest victory of (his) career.” 

And on Tuesday, after getting word from Barcelona about how bad the problem was, the midfielder went to see his teammates.

In a film released by the club, he was seen walking with crutches before boss Xavi gave him a big hug.

He then went into the gym area, where players like Marco Alonso and other members of the coaching staff gave him hugs.

His 17-year-old friends Lamine Yamal and 24-year-old Joao Felix also hugged and kissed the 19-year-old on the cheek.

The whole first team gave Gavi a standing ovation as he made his way around the field. He then had a quiet moment with goalie Marc-Andre ter Stegen.  

Barcelona said in a statement on Monday that the worst thing that could happen with the injury was confirmed.

Tests done this morning showed that Gavi, a player on the first team, has a full tear of the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, along with an injury to the external meniscus.

A surgery will be done on him in the next few days. A new medical report will be given at the end of the operation.

Barcelona is still waiting to hear for sure how long their star player will be out, but it looks like the player will probably be out for the rest of the season. 

The injury is bad news for the Spanish national team. Gavi might not be able to play in the European Championship next summer or the Olympics in Paris in 2024. 

According to Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan giants are believed to be very angry that Spain chose to play their player in the game against Georgia, even though Spain had already qualified for the event next summer. 

As a result of the injured first-team player, FIFA could pay the club between £3.5 million and £4.3 million (€4-5 million). However, the club is worried about how the loss of the teenager might affect their ability to participate in all competitions.