Kristiyan Malinov


Kristiyan Malinov is a Bulgarian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for CSKA Sofia and the Bulgarian national team.
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.

Loan to Dobrudzha

In July 2013, Malinov was loaned to B Group team Dobrudzha Dobrich for the 2013–14 season. 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.

Statistics

Club

International

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. 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.