Malkhaz Asatiani

Malkhaz Asatiani (; born 4 August 1981) is a Georgian former professional footballer who played as a defender.

Club career His club career started in Torpedo Kutaisi. During his stay of three and a half years the team won the Georgian league title three consecutive seasons.

In the summer of 2003, while having recently had scored a winning goal for Georgia against Russia at the international level, Asatiani received and agreed to an offer from Lokomotiv Moscow. Initially signed as an attacking player, Asatiani was soon converted by the club's head coach Yuri Syomin into a central defender or a defensive midfielder. However, during the 2005 season, he returned to playing up the pitch due to injury crisis among the attacking players. In the 2004 season, following the transfer of Sergey Ignashevich to cross-city rivals CSKA Moscow, Asatiani became one of the starting defenders, often partnering Dmitriy Sennikov in central defense.

On 3 December. Asatiani told the Russian newspaper, Sport-Express, that he will be leaving Lokomotiv in the end of 2010 on a free transfer. On 21 December the departure was made official.

In August 2008, Asatiani was bought on a half-year loan by Dynamo Kyiv.

International career For the National Team, Malkhaz has played 18 international matches and scored 4 goals since his debut in 2001. One of the goals came against rivals Russia in a Euro 2004 qualifying match, something for which Asatiani received praise. He also scored important goals in the 2006 World Cup qualifying phase.

Style of play and reception Asatiani had been attacking midfielder in his early professional career at Torpedo Kutaisi before Lokomotiv Moscow's manager Yuri Syomin converted him into a ball-playing center-back due to his physique and the ability to recover possession and accurately pass the ball over long distances. When playing as a defender, he was also allowed to go up the pitch to participate in the attacking play and, at times, started games in his original role of a midfielder or even as a forward. His passing, dribbling, technical skills and an eye for decisive goals made him a versatile and valuable player for both the club and the national team. Despite his talent, he was unable to continue his career as a player past the age of 29 due to recurring injuries.

In a 2024 interview, former long-term Lokomotiv Moscow manager Yuri Syomin named Asatiani one of the best defenders in the Russian Premier League during the 2000s as well as one of the most disciplined foreign players in Moscow-based clubs. National team!!Year!!Apps!!Goals

42!!4

Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Asatiani goal.

Honours Torpedo Kutaisi Georgian League (3): 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2001–02 Georgian Cup (1): 2000–01

Lokomotiv Moscow Russian League (1): 2004 Russian Cup (1): 2006–07 Russian Super Cup (2): 2003, 2005 Commonwealth of Independent States Cup (1): 2005

Dynamo Kyiv Ukrainian League (1): 2008–09