Marked for Iyed Haj Khalifa
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad1 Feb 2027
Giorgi Zaria in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad1 Feb 2027
Words at Dinamo Tbilisi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Beridze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad1 Feb 2027
The manager makes an example of Numan Kurdić
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Match22 Aug 2026
Samtredia are out and Dinamo Tbilisi go through, 1‑1 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
Match19 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Samtredia, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match19 Aug 2026
Iyed Haj Khalifa wins it after the whistle should have gone
91 minutes played. Iyed Haj Khalifa found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Samtredia went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Mathew Gbomadu ran the middle of the pitch — 7.19
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 16 combined actions and a mark of 7.19, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Giorgi Zaria was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Giorgi Loria
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Giorgi Beridze falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 16. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match15 Aug 2026
A 0‑1 win over Sapovnela, and the draw for the next round can be watched with some interest for once.
Match12 Aug 2026
A 2‑1 win over Sapovnela, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
Match12 Aug 2026
Halid Doltmourziev wins it after the whistle should have gone
109 minutes played. Halid Doltmourziev found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Sapovnela went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Market17 Aug 2026
Merani come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Dinamo Tbilisi did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Player ratings17 Aug 2026
7.78, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Giorgi Zaria in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Dinamo Tbilisi this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market17 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Chikhura have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Giorgi Gvasalia. The answer from Dinamo Tbilisi has not changed — yet.
Squad17 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Mate Vatsadze
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Dinamo Tbilisi training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Giorgi Beridze is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.