Kristiyan Malinov

Kristiyan Malinov (Bulgarian: Кристиян Малинов; born 30 March 1994) is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for CSKA Sofia and the Bulgarian national team.[2][3]

This name uses Eastern Slavic naming customs; the patronymic is Aleksandrov and the family name is Malinov.

Kristiyan Malinov

Malinov playing for Litex 2015
Personal information
Full name	Kristiyan Aleksandrov Malinov
Date of birth	(1994-03-30) 30 March 1994
Place of birth	Petrich, Bulgaria
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Playing position(s)	Central midfielder
Club information
Current team	CSKA Sofia
Number	15
Youth career
2004–2007	Belasitsa Petrich
2007–2008	Pirin 2001
2008–2013	Litex Lovech
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2016	Litex Lovech	44	(4)
2013–2014	→ Dobrudzha Dobrich (loan)	26	(4)
2016–	CSKA Sofia	105	(6)
National team^‡
2010	Bulgaria U17	3	(0)
2014–2016	Bulgaria U21	12	(1)
2015–	Bulgaria	12	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:23, 10 August 2020 (UTC)~ ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 26 February 2020

Born in Petrich, Malinov began his youth career with Belasitsa and spent three years in the academy before moving to Pirin 2001. In 2008, he joined Litex Lovech, where he developed in their academy and became a professional in 2013. Malinov made his senior debut while on loan at Dobrudzha in the 2013–14 season, before he broke into Litex's first team during following campaign. In June 2016, he joined CSKA Sofia.

In 2015, Malinov won his first cap for Bulgaria, having previously played for the under-21 team.

Career

Litex Lovech

Malinov joined Litex Lovech's Academy as a fourteen-year-old after playing junior football for his home-town club Belasitsa Petrich and Pirin 2001. He progressed through the club's youth system and made his first appearance in a senior match day squad in November 2011, sitting on the bench for an A Group match against Lokomotiv Plovdiv.[4]

Loan to Dobrudzha

In July 2013, Malinov was loaned to B Group team Dobrudzha Dobrich for the 2013–14 season.[5] He made his debut in a 1–0 home win over Akademik Svishtov on 3 August 2013. Coached by former Litex's forward Svetoslav Todorov, Malinov made an immediate impact, appearing in all 26 league matches, scoring four goals. He was substituted only once during the entire league season in the second division.

Return to Litex

Malinov returned to Litex at the end of the season. He made his debut in the team's opening league match of the 2014–15 campaign against CSKA Sofia on 20 July 2014, playing the full 90 minutes in the centre of midfield. On 14 September, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 home win over Haskovo. On 29 November 2014, Malinov opened the scoring against Levski Sofia at Georgi Asparuhov Stadium. Later in the match Litex went 2–1 down, but Malinov created Litex's second goal, which was scored by Kiril Despodov for a 2–2 draw.

CSKA Sofia

In June 2016 he and a big part of the Litex squad moved to CSKA Sofia since the team took the license of Litex for Bulgarian First League.[6]

Statistics

Club

As of 17 August 2020[3]

Club	Season	Division	League		Cup		Europe		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Litex Lovech	2011–12	A Group	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2012–13		0	0	0	0	–		0	0
Dobrudzha (loan)	2013–14	B Group	26	4	4	0	–		30	4
Litex Lovech	2014–15	A Group	30	2	4	0	1	0	35	2
	2015–16		14	2	3	1	2	0	19	3
	Total		44	4	7	1	3	0	54	5
Litex Lovech II	2015–16	B Group	11	0	–		–		11	0
CSKA Sofia II	2016–17	Second League	9	1	–		–		9	1
CSKA Sofia	2016–17	First League	17	0	1	0	–		18	0
	2017–18		29	3	3	0	–		32	3
	2018–19		31	1	5	0	3	0	39	1
	2019–20		27	2	6	0	6	1	39	3
	2020–21		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	Total		105	6	15	0	9	1	129	7
Career Total			195	15	26	1	12	1	233	17

International

As of match played 26 February 2020[7]

Bulgaria national team
Year	Apps	Goals
2015	1	0
2016	0	0
2017	0	0
2018	2	0
2019	8	0
2020	1	0
Total	12	0

International career

On 7 February 2015, Malinov made his first appearance for Bulgaria, in the 0–0 draw with Romania in a non-official friendly match, being replaced in the 63rd minute by Stefan Velev.[8] He earned his first cap on 8 June 2015, in the 0–4 loss against Turkey in another exhibition game, after coming on as a substitute during the second half.[9]

References

1. "Профил на Кристиян Александров Малинов" (in Bulgarian). fpleague.bg. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
2. "Kristiyan Malinov Facts". footballdatabase.eu.
3. Malinov Stats
4. "Lokomotiv Plovdiv 2–1 Litex". soccerway.com. 27 November 2011.
5. "Добруджа взе още един талант от Литекс" (in Bulgarian). football24.bg. 18 July 2013.
6. Манолев и петима чужденци от "Литекс" започнаха подготовка с ЦСКА
7. Malinov, Kristiyan at National-Football-Teams.com
8. "Romania vs. Bulgaria 0–0". flashscore.com. 7 February 2015. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
9. "Turkey vs. Bulgaria 4–0 (MatchCast)". topsport.bg. 8 June 2015. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.

External links

• Kristiyan Malinov at Soccerway