Tornike Kvaratskhelia scored twice and set up the other goal as Dinamo Tbilisi beat Copenhagen 3-0 in the UEFA Youth League. His celebration offered another reminder of his older brother, Khvicha, just as the PSG forward begins recovering from knee surgery.
Playing at the club where Khvicha began his senior career, the 16-year-old gave Dinamo a three-goal lead from the first leg of their second-round tie in the competition’s domestic champions path.
Khvicha tore the ACL in his right knee against Barcelona on October 20. PSG has since confirmed that his operation at ASPETAR Hospital in Doha was successful, with rehabilitation to follow. Tornike spoke about the difficult period facing his brother after his own match in Tbilisi.
“I stand by him and will always stand by him,” he said in postmatch comments published by Georgian outlet Ambebi.
PSG’s players and staff have also posed in their dressing room holding Khvicha’s No. 7 shirt. It was a public show of support for a forward who helped deliver the club’s second consecutive Champions League title in May.
Growing up with the comparison
The comparisons were part of Tornike’s life well before Wednesday’s goals. In a May interview with Kviris Palitra, his father, Badri, described the strain: “It’s quite a heavy burden to be Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s brother and to be constantly compared with him.” He said he and his wife, Maka, try to keep that pressure from affecting Tornike’s football.
Against Copenhagen, Tornike’s first goal came from reacting to a rebound after Anri Dzneladze’s shot hit the post. He then provided the final pass for Sandro Mikautadze to make it 2-0. His second was the pick of the three, a shot into the far top corner in the 51st minute. He went close to a hat trick before coming off in the 69th.
Dinamo’s goalkeeper also had to make important saves, with Copenhagen creating chances of their own. Tornike’s contribution gave the home side a substantial advantage to take to Denmark. Across his three Youth League appearances this season, he now has two goals and two assists.
His first-team experience is still taking shape. Tornike made his senior Dinamo debut in May against Iberia 1999 and has appeared 11 times in the Georgian league this season, with 10 of those appearances coming from the bench. He’s getting opportunities at a club that also gave Khvicha his first senior games at 16.
Georgia have already used him in three qualifiers for the 2027 European Under-21 Championship. Those appearances total 23 minutes, an early introduction to another level. Stephen McMullan denied him in stoppage time during Georgia’s 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland.
Bayern Munich have had a look, too. Tornike trained at the club’s youth campus and appeared in a friendly in May. Sporting director Christoph Freund confirmed the trial and acknowledged his talent while warning against comparisons with Khvicha. The training spell came before his senior Dinamo debut.
Badri also spoke in that May interview about his hope of seeing both sons play for Georgia’s senior team. Tornike has begun moving through the national sides, while Khvicha faces rehabilitation. Their careers are at very different stages, even when a goal celebration briefly makes the resemblance easy to see.
Tornike’s next European assignment comes on November 4, when Dinamo take their 3-0 lead to Valby Idrætspark for the return leg. The winners will face Fiorentina or Septemvri Sofia, with the Italian side leading that tie 5-0. “Nothing is over yet,” Tornike said after the win.
