# 2017–18 IR Tanger season

The 2017–18 season is Ittihad Riadi Tanger's 35th in existence and the club's 19th season in the top flight of Moroccan football, and Third consecutive season in the first division of Moroccan football after the promotion.
Ittihad Tanger were confirmed to be champions of the 2017–18 Botola season on 12 May 2018, finishing atop the first division of Moroccan football for the first time in club history.

## Kit

Supplier: Bang Sports / Club Sponsor: front: Renault, APM Terminals, Moroccan Airports Authority, Tanger-Med ; back: Valencia ; short: RCI Finance Maroc / League Sponsor: front: Maroc Telecom.
| Home | Away | Third |

## Season review
### May

On 15 May, the club announced the transfers of 17-year-old left-back Hatim El Ouahabi from Widad Juventud for the next five seasons, for 200,000 MAD.
On 20 May, the club announced Ezzaki Badou would be the new IR Tanger coach.

### June

On 2 June, the contracts of players Bakre El Helali, Abdelghani Mouaoui, Mohamed Amsif, Youssef Sekour, Jamal Ait Lamaalem, Zakaria Melhaoui, Soufian El Hassnaoui, Soufiane Gadoum, Ismaël Daoud, Yahya Boumediene, and Abdoulaye Diarra expired.
On 6 June, Ittihad Tanger and both Ayoub El Khaliqi and Mehdi Baltham negotiated a two-year contract extension lasting until 2019.

### July

On 15 July, Ittihad Tanger won their first pre-season match against Rajae Al Boughaz with a 4–0 .
On 18 July, the club loaned Younes Ed-dyb to US Musulmane d'Oujda.
On 19 July, Ittihad Tanger defeated Chabab Alam Tanger 8–0.
On 22 July, Ittihad Tanger were defeated by Moghreb Tétouan 1–0 at Stade Municipal d'Asilah.
On 26 July, the club announced Renault signed up as IR Tanger's new main partner; the French company will appear on the front of the team's shirt for the next three seasons, starting the season 2017–2018.
On 28 July, Ittihad Tanger won 4–0 against KAC Kénitra in a pre-season friendly.

### August

On 3 August, the club announced they have reached an agreement with Al-Qadisiyah for the transfer of Hervé Guy for 300,000 dollars.
On 4 August, Ittihad Tanger were defeated by DR Congo local football team 2–0 at Centre National De Foot Maamoura in Rabat.
On 6 August, the club completed the transfer of 28-year-old forward Mehdi Naghmi from AS FAR on a three-year contract,
On 7 August, Ittihad Tanger defeated Spanish Third División team Algeciras 4–2 in Tangier with goals from Ayoub El Khaliqi, Ismail Benlamalem, Yassine Amrioui and Ahmed Chentouf.
On 10 August, Ittihad Tanger defeated KAC Marrakech 1–0 in a pre-season friendly.
On 16 August, Ittihad Tanger lost 2–1 to Chabab Rif Al Hoceima in the last pre-season friendly match.
On 22 August, Ittihad Tanger drew US Kacemie 1–1, gave USK a slight advantage going into the second leg.
On 27 August, Ittihad Tanger won 1–0 against Union Sidi Kacem; Naghmi scored the only goal from penalty as IRT cruised into the last 16 of the Coupe du Trône.

### September

On 4 September, Ittihad Tanger and Abdelhafid Lirki agreed to mutually terminate the defender's contract.
On 7 September, Ittihad Tanger announced they had reached an agreement with AS Athlétic d'Adjamé for the transfer of N'do Didier Pepe.
On 9 September, Ittihad Tanger defeated RSB Berkane 3–0 in their first Botola match of the season, following an own goal from Laarbi Naji, and Mehdi Naghmi scored two goals.
On 13 September, Ittihad Tanger draw 0–0 against DH Jadidi.
On 18 September, IR Tanger drew 1–1 with Racing AC, with Chentouf scoring the equalizer in the 70th minute.
On 18 September, Ittihad Tanger announced they had reached an agreement with Raja Casablanca for the transfer of Mohamed Bouldini for 60,000 dollars. The player will sign a three-year contract.
On 19 September, the club announced they have reached an agreement with Olympique Khouribga for the transfer of Mame Saher Thioune.
On 21 September, Ittihad Tanger and RSB Berkane reached an agreement for the transfer of Enes Šipović. and the club loaned Abdelali Assri and Abdelghafour Jebroun to Widad Tanger, and Yasser Imrani to Fath Wislan.

### May

On 12 May, Ittihad Tanger defeated Moghreb Tétouan 2–1 to win their 1st Botola title in club history.

## Players
### squad

    As of 19 February 2018
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | MAR | Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti (on loan from Wydad AC) |
| 2 | DF | MAR | Redouane Mrabet |
| 3 | DF | MAR | Hatim El Ouahabi |
| 4 | DF | CIV | Didier Pepe |
| 5 | MF | MAR | Omar Arjoune |
| 6 | MF | MAR | Nouaman Aarab |
| 7 | FW | MAR | Mohamed El Amraoui |
| 8 | MF | MAR | Khalid Serroukh |
| 9 | MF | MAR | Yassine Lebhiri |
| 10 | MF | EQG | Pablo Ganet |
| 11 | FW | MAR | Ahmed Hammoudan (vice-captain) |
| 15 | DF | MAR | Ayoub Jarfi |
| 16 | MF | MAR | Ahmed Chentouf |
| 17 | FW | MAR | Mehdi Naghmi |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 18 | MF | MAR | Anas Aqachmar |
| 19 | FW | MAR | Ayoub Bouraada |
| 22 | GK | MAR | Mehdi Ouaya |
| 29 | DF | MAR | Oussama El Ghrib (captain) |
| 31 | DF | MAR | Ayoub El Khaliqi |
| 33 | DF | MAR | Ayman Ben Ali |
| 34 | DF | MAR | Abdelmoneim Akhrif |
| 55 | GK | MAR | Tarik Aouattah |
| 65 | GK | MAR | Hicham El Mejhed |
| 77 | FW | MAR | Amine Ennali |
| 93 | MF | SEN | Ousseynou Thioune |
| 97 | FW | MAR | Zakaria Boulaich |
| 99 | FW | BRA | Hugo Almeida |

#### From youth squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 27 | DF | MAR | Ayman El Kchiri |
| — | GK | MAR | Ibrahim Chouaybi |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | DF | MAR | Hicham Zghari |
| — | FW | MAR | Rachid Khattabi |

#### Out during the season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 10 | MF | MAR | Noussair El Maimouni |
| 12 | FW | BFA | Bassirou Compaoré |
| 14 | DF | MAR | Mehdi Baltham |
| 19 | FW | MAR | Samir Belasfar |
| 20 | DF | SEN | Mame Saher Thioune |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 21 | MF | MAR | Abdelhafid Lirki |
| 23 | DF | MAR | Yassine Amrioui |
| 26 | FW | MTN | Ismaël Diakité |
| 27 | DF | MAR | Ismail Benlamalem |
| 99 | FW | MAR | Mohamed Bouldini |

### Technical staff

| Position | Name |
| First team head coach | Ezzaki Badou |
| Assistant coach | Driss El Mrabet |
| Goalkeeping coach | Mohamed Jbari |
| Fitness coach | Saïd Hammouni |
until 21 November 2017
| Position | Name |
| First team head coach | Driss El Mrabet |
| Assistant coach | Abdelouahed Belqassem |
| Goalkeeping coach | Mohamed Jbari |
| Fitness coach | Saïd Hammouni |

## Statistics
### Squad appearances and goals

Last updated on 20 May 2018.
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Botola | Botola | Coupe du Trône | Coupe du Trône |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | MAR | Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti | 25 | -18 | 23 | (-17) | 2 | (-1) |
| 22 | GK | MAR | Mehdi Ouaya | 5 | -2 | 3 | (-1) | 2 | (-1) |
| 55 | GK | MAR | Tarik Aouattah | 4 | -3 | 4 | (-3) | 0 | 0 |
| 65 | GK | MAR | Hicham El Mejhed | 1 | -2 | 0+1 | (-2) | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | MAR | Redwan Mrabet | 23 | 0 | 22+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | MAR | Hatim El Ouahabi | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | CIV | Didier Pepe | 25 | 0 | 22+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | MAR | Ayoub Jarfi | 20 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | MAR | Ayman El Kchiri | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | MAR | Oussama El Ghrib | 32 | 2 | 28 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 31 | DF | MAR | Ayoub El Khaliqi | 18 | 0 | 10+4 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | MAR | Ayman Ben Ali | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 34 | DF | MAR | Abdelmoneim Akhrif | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 97 | DF | MAR | Zakaria Boulaich | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 5 | MF | MAR | Omar Arjoune | 20 | 1 | 15+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | MAR | Nouaman Aarab | 23 | 0 | 16+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | MAR | Khalid Serroukh | 33 | 4 | 25+4 | 4 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | MAR | Yassine Lebhiri | 21 | 2 | 17+2 | 2 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | EQG | Pablo Ganet | 11 | 0 | 2+9 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | MF | MAR | Ahmed Chentouf | 13 | 2 | 2+10 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | MAR | Anas Aqachmar | 11 | 0 | 4+5 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 93 | MF | SEN | Ousseynou Thioune | 28 | 0 | 23+1 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 7 | FW | MAR | Mohamed El Amraoui | 10 | 2 | 1+8 | 2 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | MAR | Ahmed Hammoudan | 33 | 4 | 28+1 | 4 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | MAR | Mehdi Naghmi | 33 | 16 | 29 | 13 | 4 | 3 |
| 19 | FW | MAR | Ayoub Bouraada | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 77 | FW | MAR | Amine Ennali | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | BRA | Hugo Guimarães Silva Santos Almeida | 13 | 1 | 8+5 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who have made an appearance or had a squad number this season but have left the club ||||||||||
| 20 | DF | SEN | Mame Saher Thioune | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 21 | MF | MAR | Abdelhafid Lirki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | MAR | Noussair El Maimouni | 12 | 0 | 5+3 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 12 | FW | BFA | Bassirou Compaoré | 11 | 0 | 6+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 23 | DF | MAR | Yassine Amrioui | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 26 | FW | MTN | Ismaël Diakité | 10 | 0 | 2+5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 99 | FW | MAR | Mohamed Bouldini | 7 | 0 | 0+6 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 14 | DF | MAR | Mehdi Baltham | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 27 | DF | MAR | Ismail Benlamalem | 12 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | FW | MAR | Samir Belasfar | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Name | Botola | Coupe du Trône | Total |
| 17 | FW | | Mehdi Naghmi | 13 | 3 | 16 |
| 11 | FW | | Ahmed Hammoudan | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 8 | MF | | Khalid Serroukh | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| 7 | FW | | Mohamed El Amraoui | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 29 | DF | | Oussama El Ghrib | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | MF | | Yassine Lebhiri | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 16 | MF | | Ahmed Chentouf | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 99 | FW | | Hugo Almeida | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | MF | | Omar Arjoune | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 27 | DF | | Ismail Benlamalem | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| # | Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | 34 | 3 | 37 |

### Assists

| No. | Pos. | Nation | Name | Botola | Coupe du Trône | Total |
| 8 | MF | | Khalid Serroukh | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| 11 | FW | | Ahmed Hammoudan | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 17 | FW | | Mehdi Naghmi | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 29 | DF | | Oussama El Ghrib | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | MF | | Yassine Lebhiri | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 | MF | | Omar Arjoune | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | | Pablo Ganet | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 99 | FW | | Mohamed Bouldini | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | TOTAL | 18 | 1 | 19 |

### Clean sheets

As of 20 May 2018.
| Rank | Name | Botola | Coupe du Trône | Total | Played Games |
| — | Tagnaouti | 11 | 1 | 12 | 25 |
| — | Ouaya | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| — | Aouattah | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| — | El Mejhed | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 13 | 2 | 15 | 34 |

### Disciplinary record

| N | P | Name | Botola | Botola | Botola | Coupe du Trône | Total | Total | Total |
| 1 | GK | Ahmed Reda Tagnaouti | 1 | | | | 1 | | |
| 2 | DF | Redwan Mrabet | 3 | | | | 3 | | |
| 4 | DF | Didier Pepe | 7 | | | | 7 | | |
| 5 | MF | Omar Arjoune | 6 | | | | 6 | | |
| 6 | MF | Nouaman Aarab | 1 | | | | 1 | | |
| 7 | FW | Mohamed El Amraoui | 1 | | | | 1 | | |
| 8 | MF | Khalid Serroukh | 2 | | | | 2 | | |
| 9 | MF | Yassine Lebhiri | 1 | | | | 1 | | |
| 11 | FW | Ahmed Hammoudan | 1 | | | 1 | 2 | | |
| 15 | DF | Ayoub Jarfi | 3 | | | | 3 | | |
| 17 | FW | Mehdi Naghmi | 5 | | | | 5 | | |
| 22 | GK | Mehdi Ouaya | | | 1 | | | | 1 |
| 29 | DF | Oussama El Ghrib | 4 | | | 1 | 5 | | |
| 31 | DF | Ayoub El Khaliqi | 1 | | | | 1 | | |
| 93 | MF | Ousseynou Thioune | 7 | 2 | | | 7 | 2 | |
| 99 | FW | Hugo Almeida | 5 | | | | 5 | | |
| 26 | FW | Ismaël Diakité | | | | 1 | 1 | | |
| 27 | DF | Ismail Belmaalem | 3 | | | 1 | 4 | | |
| 99 | FW | Mohamed Bouldini | 1 | | | | 1 | | |
Last updated: 20 May 2018 Source: mountakhab.net Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.

## Competitions
### Overview

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Botola | 9 September 2017 | 20 May 2018 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 046.67 |
| Coupe du Trône | 22 August 2017 | 20 September 2017 | Round of 32 | Round of 16 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 025.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 34 | 15 | 13 | 6 | 37 | 25 | +12 | 044.12 |
Last updated: 20 May 2018 (2018-05-20). Source: Competitions

### Botola
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | IR Tanger (C) | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 34 | 23 | +11 | 52 | Qualification for the CAF Champions League |
| 2 | Wydad Casablanca | 30 | 14 | 9 | 7 | 44 | 26 | +18 | 51 | Qualification for the CAF Champions League |
| 3 | Hassania Agadir | 30 | 13 | 12 | 5 | 40 | 22 | +18 | 51 | Qualification for the CAF Confederation Cup |
| 4 | FUS Rabat | 30 | 13 | 10 | 7 | 34 | 26 | +8 | 49 | |
| 5 | Difaâ El Jadidi | 30 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 49 | 33 | +16 | 48 | |
* 1 2 Wydad Casablanca finished ahead of Hassania Agadir on goals scored: Wydad Casablanca 44, hassania Agadir 40
* ↑ Difaa Jadidi finished ahead of Raja Casablanca on head-to-head goal difference: Difaa Jadidi 2–1 Raja Casablanca, Raja Casablanca 3–2 Difaa Jadidi

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 20 May 2018 (2018-05-20). Source: Competitive matches

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | D | D | D | D | L | D | L | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | L | D | W | W | L | L | D | D | W | L |
| Position | 1 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Results overview

Win  Draw  Loss
| Region | Team | Home score | Away score | Aggregate |
| Casablanca-Settat | Difaâ El Jadidi | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Casablanca-Settat | Racing de Casablanca | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–2 |
| Casablanca-Settat | Raja Casablanca | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 |
| Casablanca-Settat | Wydad Casablanca | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Béni Mellal-Khénifra | Chabab Atlas Khénifra | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 |
| Béni Mellal-Khénifra | Olympique Khouribga | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 |
| Béni Mellal-Khénifra | Rapide Oued Zem | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima | Chabab Rif Al Hoceima | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 |
| Tanger-Tetouan-Al Hoceima | Moghreb Tétouan | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Marrakech-Safi | Kawkab Marrakech | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 |
| Marrakech-Safi | Olympic Safi | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Rabat-Salé-Kénitra | AS FAR | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 |
| Rabat-Salé-Kénitra | Fath Union Sport | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Oriental | RS Berkane | 2–1 | 0–3 | 5–1 |
| Souss-Massa | Hassania Agadir | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 |

### Throne Cup
#### Round of 16
## Awards

| Name | Position | Award |
| IR Tanger | IR Tanger | Botola's Best Club of the Season (2017–18) |
| Ahmed Hammoudan | Forward | Botola's Best Player of the Season (2017–18) |
| Driss El Mrabet | Coach | Botola's Best Manager of the Season (2017–18) |