2019–20 USM Alger season explained

Club:	USM Alger
Season:	2019–20
Owner:	ETRHB Haddad (until 2 March 2020)^[1] Groupe SERPORT (from 2 March 2020)^[2]
Manager:	Billel Dziri (from 24 June 2019)^[3] (until 26 February 2020)^[4] Farid Zemiti (c) (from 27 February 2020) (until 2 March 2020) Mounir Zeghdoud (from 3 March 2020)^[5]
Mgrtitle:	Head coach
Chairman:	Boualem Chendri (until 2 March 2020) Achour Djelloul (from 2 March 2020)
Chrtitle:	President
Stadium:	Omar Hamadi Stadium
League:	Ligue 1
League Result:	6th
Cup1:	Algerian Cup
Cup1 Result:	Round of 32
Cup2:	Champions League
Cup2 Result:	Group Stage
League Topscorer:	Abdelkrim Zouari (7 goals)
Season Topscorer:	Aymen Mahious (12 goals)
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Prevseason:	2018–19
Nextseason:	2020–21

In the 2019–20 season, USM Alger competed in the Ligue 1 for the 42nd season, as well as the Algerian Cup. It was their 25th consecutive season in the top flight of Algerian football. They also competed in the Champions League, and the Algerian Cup.

During the campaign, the club were plagued by major financial problems after the club owner Ali Haddad was jailed, which froze the official account of the club, leaving them unable to pay the salaries of the players, technical staff and other workers.

On March 15, 2020, the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) decided to halt the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Algeria.^[6] On July 29, 2020, the LFP declared that season is over and CR Belouizdad to be the champion, the promotion of four teams from the League 2, and scraping the relegation for the current season.^[7]

Summary

On June 2, 2019, it was announced on Echourouk TV that the Haddad family was selling its shares in SSPA USMA, of which it held 92%.^[8]

The club lost several key players including Abderrahmane Meziane, who moved to Al Ain.^[9] and Raouf Benguit to Espérance ST.^[10] also Farouk Chafaï Mokhtar Benmoussa and Prince Ibara to K Beerschot.^[11] On 26 July, USM Alger squad went to Tunisia for a ten-day internship The cost was paid by a friend from Tunisia because of the continued freezing of their financial account.^[12] On 4 August, Al-Hayat Petroleum Company decided to pay the cost of travel to Niger in order to play the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League, the same company that wants to buy the majority of the shares of the club.^[13] On 4 September, The players of USM Alger decided to go on strike to protest difficult financial situation They stressed that this decision has nothing to do with the administration, the fans or the club itself. It is a protest movement against the state of the USM Alger and the delay in resolving the crisis, As a reminder, the USM Alger players have not received their salaries for 6 months, while the new ones have not received any salary since joining the club.^[14]

On 13 October, The players decided to boycott the training and official matches because they have not been paid for five months, two days after Amine Tirmane club's communication officer He submitted his resignation on the channel Dzaïr TV, a day later a fan paid the amount of 500,000 dinars per player reward win against Gor Mahia and AS Aïn M'lila, The players then decide to return to training and play CA Bordj Bou Arreridj match on October 23. After a protest in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Youth and Sports against the difficult situation, Minister Raouf Salim Bernaoui said to supporters of the club They have to be patient.^[15]

On 19 October, Nearly 5,000 supporters of USM Alger went out to The headquarters of the Wilaya of Algiers to protest against the club's difficult financial situation and free it from ETRHB Haddad Company.^[16] A day after Mounir D'bichi said to France 24 that Al-Hayat Petroleum is a subsidiary of ETRHB Haddad which also said that the team's debts amount to 1,020,000,000 DA about 8 million euros. D'bichi said ETRHB Haddad had provided 400 billion centimes since its arrival about 23 million euros.^[17] On 22 October, Oussama Chita resumed training with his teammates after a long absence due to a serious injury contracted by the Algerian international last season at the knee.^[18]

On October 29, 2019, The leaders of USM Algiers have announced in a statement that the sponsorship deal with Kia Al Djazair will be terminated amicably and the club will recover all outstanding debts that are valued at nearly 20 billion centimes (1.4 million €) In addition, the contract with Ifri will not be renewed either by decision of the company.^[19] On November 5, the administration of USM Alger signed Sponsor contract with Serport specialized in port services for 16 billion centimes about 1.2 million euros.^[20] The administration of USM Alger to regain its right in the Darby case, appealed the arbitration decision issued by the Algerian Court for the settlement of sports disputes in case No. 92/19 between Union sportive de la médina d'Alger against the Algerian Football Federation and the Professional Football Association. This was the receipt of the receipt of the appeal from the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne on 8 January 2020 and the team paid the costs of registering the case with an amount of one thousand euros (€1000) on the morning of 9 January.^[21]

Squad list

Players and squad numbers last updated on 1 May 2020.^[22]
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.	Name	Nat.	Position	Date of Birth (Age)	Signed from	Signed in	Contract ends	Notes	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
1	Lamine Zemmamouche		GK	January 1, 2020	MC Alger	2012	2020	Captain	379	1
16	Ismaïl Mansouri		GK	January 1, 2020	MO Béjaïa	2008	2020	Loan return	79	0
30	Abdelmoumen Sifour		GK	January 1, 2020	Reserve team	2019	2022		1	0
Defenders
3	Abderrahim Hamra		CB	January 1, 2020	Reserve team	2016	2020		32	1
4	Mustapha Kheiraoui		CB	January 1, 2020	A Bou Saada	2019	2022		22	0
6	Lyes Oukkal		CB	January 1, 2020	NA Hussein Dey	2019	2021		14	0
19	Redouane Cherifi		LB	January 1, 2020	USM Bel-Abbès	2017	2021		89	2
22	Mohamed Rabie Meftah		RB	January 1, 2020	JSM Béjaïa	2011	2020	3rd captain	258	49
27	Mohamed Tiboutine		RB	January 1, 2020	JS Saoura	2019	2021		9	0
28	Hicham Belkaroui		CB	January 1, 2020	Al-Raed	2019	2021		6	0
42	Adam Alilet		CB	January 1, 2020	Reserve team	2019	2023		9	0
57	Anis Khemaissia		LB	January 1, 2020	USM Annaba	2019	2022		15	1
Midfielders
2	Oussama Chita		DM	January 1, 2020	MC Alger	2017	2021		64	2
7	Ilyes Yaiche		AM / LW	January 1, 2020	NA Hussein Dey	2016	2022	Loan return	21	0
8	Kamel Belarbi		DM	January 1, 2020	USM El Harrach	2018	2022		23	0
10	Muaid Ellafi		AM / LW	January 1, 2020	Al-Shabab	2018	2021		40	7
17	Taher Benkhelifa		DM	January 1, 2020	Paradou AC	2019	2020	Loan	26	1
23	Hamza Koudri		DM	January 1, 2020	MC Alger	2012	2020	Vice-captain	242	8
25	Mohamed Reda Boumechra		DM	January 1, 2020	USM El Harrach	2019	2020	Loan return	23	2
26	Billel Benhammouda		AM	January 1, 2020	USMM Hadjout	2016	2023		43	3
Forwards
7	Zakaria Haddouche		LW	January 1, 2020	MC Alger	2019	2021		9	0
9	Zakaria Benchaâ		ST	January 1, 2020	MC Oran	2018	2021		27	7
11	Abdelkrim Zouari		RW	January 1, 2020	USM Bel Abbès	2018	2021		41	12
15	Oualid Ardji		LW / LB	January 1, 2020	NA Hussein Dey	2016	2021	Loan return	77	6
18	Aymen Mahious		ST	January 1, 2020	AS Aïn M'lila	2018	2021	Loan return	48	14
20	Adem Redjehimi		LW	January 1, 2020	Afro Napoli United	2019	2021		6	1

Transfers

In

Date		Player	From club	Transfer fee	Source
9 June 2019	LB			Free transfer	^[23]
22 June 2019	CB			Free transfer	^[24]
30 June 2019	RB			Loan Return
30 June 2019	ST			Loan Return
1 July 2019	DM			Loan for one year	^[25] ^[26]
2 July 2019	LW			Free transfer	^[27]
6 July 2019	FW	Karim Louanchi		Free transfer	^[28]
8 July 2019	CB			Free transfer	^[29]
13 July 2019	RB			Free transfer	^[30]
30 July 2019	CB			Free transfer	^[31]
31 July 2019	CB			Free transfer	^[32]
31 July 2019	LW			Free transfer	^[33]
12 January 2020	AM / LW			Loan Return	^[34]

Out

Date		Player	To club	Transfer fee	Source
7 June 2019	AM / FW			Free transfer	^[35] ^[36]
13 June 2019	ST			Free transfer
18 June 2019	MF			Free transfer	^[37]
30 June 2019	CB			Free transfer (Released)
30 June 2019	DM			Loan Return
15 July 2019	CB			Free transfer	^[38]
22 July 2019	FW			Free transfer (Released)	^[39] ^[40]
24 July 2019	FW			Free transfer (Released)
1 August 2019	CB			Free transfer	^[41]
6 August 2019	GK			Free transfer
2 September 2019	MF				^[42]
31 December 2019	FW			Free transfer (Released)	^[43]
30 January 2020	FW			Loan for six months	^[44]

Competitions

Overview

Competition	Record								Started round	Final position / round	First match	Last match
Ligue 1		6th	15 August 2019	14 March 2020
Algerian Cup	Round of 64	Round of 32	5 January 2020	13 February 2020
Champions League	Preliminary round	Group Stage	9 August 2019	1 February 2020
Total Ligue 1 See main article: 2019–20 Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1. Matches On 29 July 2019, the Algerian Ligue Professionnelle 1 fixtures were announced.^[45] ^[46] Algerian Cup See main article: 2019–20 Algerian Cup. Champions League See main article: 2019–20 CAF Champions League. Qualifying rounds See main article: 2019–20 CAF Champions League qualifying rounds. Second round Group stage Squad information Appearances and goals No. Player Ligue 1 Algerian Cup Champions League Total Goalkeepers 1 GK Lamine Zemmamouche 15 15 0 1 1 0 6 6 0 22 22 0 16 GK Ismaïl Mansouri 5 5 0 1 1 0 4 4 0 10 10 0 30 GK Abdelmoumen Sifour 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 Defenders 3 CB Abderrahime Hamra 16 16 1 1 1 0 8 8 0 25 25 1 4 CB Mustapha Kheiraoui 14 14 0 0 0 0 8 8 0 22 22 0 6 CB Lyes Oukkal 9 8 0 1 1 0 4 4 0 14 13 0 19 LB Redouane Cherifi 19 19 0 1 1 0 9 8 0 29 28 0 22 RB Mohamed Rabie Meftah 16 15 5 1 1 0 9 9 3 26 25 8 27 RB Mohamed Tiboutine 6 5 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 9 7 0 28 CB Hicham Belkaroui 4 2 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 6 4 0 42 CB Adam Alilet 6 6 0 1 1 0 2 1 0 9 8 0 57 LB Anis Khemaissia 7 1 1 2 2 0 6 2 0 15 5 1 Midfielders 2 DM Oussama Chita 6 3 0 2 1 0 2 1 0 10 5 0 7 AM / LW Ilyes Yaiche 5 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 6 3 0 8 DM Kamel Belarbi 7 5 0 1 1 0 6 4 0 14 10 0 10 AM / LW Muaid Ellafi 18 11 1 1 1 0 6 6 1 25 18 2 17 DM Taher Benkhelifa 18 17 1 1 1 0 7 7 0 26 25 1 23 DM Hamza Koudri 17 17 1 2 2 0 8 8 0 27 27 1 24 DM Mohammed Benkhemassa 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 25 DM Mohamed Reda Boumechra 9 8 1 2 1 0 4 1 0 15 10 1 26 AM Billel Benhammouda 14 9 2 2 1 1 8 4 0 24 14 3 Forwards 7 LW Zakaria Haddouche 6 5 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 9 6 0 9 ST Zakaria Benchaâ 12 7 1 1 0 0 7 6 5 20 13 6 11 RW Abdelkrim Zouari 20 17 7 0 0 0 7 7 1 27 24 8 15 LW / LB Oualid Ardji 14 9 0 2 1 1 8 7 2 24 17 3 18 ST Aymen Mahious 20 13 4 2 2 3 10 5 5 32 20 12 20 LW Adem Redjehimi 3 0 0 1 0 1 2 1 0 6 1 1 Total 21 25 2 6 10 17 33 48 Disciplinary record Player Ligue 1 Algerian Cup Champions League Total width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 width=25 1 GK Mohamed Lamine Zemmamouche 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 16 GK Ismaïl Mansouri 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 DF Abderrahime Hamra 0 0 1 0 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 1 4 DF Mustapha Kheiraoui 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 6 DF Lyes Oukkal 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 19 DF Redouane Cherifi 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 22 DF Mohamed Rabie Meftah 6 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 8 0 0 27 DF Mohamed Tiboutine 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 28 DF Hicham Belkaroui 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 57 DF Anis Khemaissia 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 7 MF Ilyes Yaiche 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 10 MF Muaid Ellafi 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 17 MF Taher Benkhelifa 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 0 0 23 MF Hamza Koudri 4 0 0 2 0 0 2 0 0 8 0 0 24 MF Mohammed Benkhemassa 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 25 MF Mohamed Reda Boumechra 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 26 MF Billel Benhammouda 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 9 FW Zakaria Benchaâ 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 0 0 11 FW Abdelkrim Zouari 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 15 FW Oualid Ardji 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 3 0 0 18 FW Aymen Mahious 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 20 FW Adem Redjehimi 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 Total 39 1 1 4 0 0 17 0 0 60 1 1 Goalscorers Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname when total goals are equal. width=10 No. width=10 Nat. width=140 Player width=10 Pos. width=40 width=40 width=40 width=10 TOTAL 18 FW 4 3 5 12 11 FW 7 0 1 8 22 DF 5 0 3 8 9 FW 1 0 5 6 26 MF 2 1 0 3 15 MF 0 1 2 3 10 MF 1 0 1 2 25 MF 1 0 0 1 3 DF 1 0 0 1 23 MF 1 0 0 1 57 DF 1 0 0 1 17 MF 1 0 0 1 20 FW 0 1 0 1 Own Goals 0 0 0 0 Totals 25 6 17 47 Penalties width=120 Date width=60 Nation width=150 Name width=150 Opposition width=50 Scored? 15 August 2019 Mohamed Rabie Meftah ES Sétif 25 August 2019 Muaid Ellafi AS Sonidep 1 September 2019 AS Aïn M'lila Mohamed Rabie Meftah 15 September 2019 Gor Mahia 23 October 2019 CA Bordj Bou Arreridj 30 October 2019 Aymen Mahious NC Magra 4 November 2019 Mohamed Rabie Meftah JS Saoura Muaid Ellafi 9 November 2019 Redouane Cherifi NA Hussein Dey 5 January 2020 Aymen Mahious USM Khenchela 11 January 2020 Mohamed Rabie Meftah Mamelodi Sundowns 16 January 2020 Aymen Mahious JS Kabylie 8 February 2020 CS Constantine Clean sheets Includes all competitive matches. width=15 width=15 width=210 Name width=40 width=40 width=40 width=40 Total 1 Lamine Zemmamouche 7 0 0 7 16 Ismaïl Mansouri 0 0 1 1 30 Abdelmoumen Sifour 0 0 0 0 TOTALS 7 0 1 8 Hat-tricks Player Against Result Date Competition Ref 6–1 (H) ^[47] (H) – Home ; (A) – Away References

Notes and References

1. Web site: USMA : Le Groupe Serport prend officiellement le pouvoir . competition.dz . 3 March 2020.
2. Web site: USMA : Serport acquiert 94,34% des actions . . 3 March 2020.
3. Web site: L1 : Dziri entraîneur de l'USM Alger . . 24 June 2019.
4. Web site: USMA : Billel Dziri n'est plus l'entraineur du club . . 26 February 2020.
5. Web site: USM Alger : Mounir Zeghdoud nouveau coach de Soustara . lagazettedufennec.com . 4 March 2020.
6. Web site: بسبب كورونا.. الدوري الجزائري مهدد بالسيناريو الفرنسي . al-ain.com . Arabic . 12 July 2020 .
7. Web site: شباب بلوزداد بطلا لموسم استثنائي . elkhabar.com . Arabic . 29 July 2020 .
8. Web site: USMA : Les Haddad officiellement vendeurs . . 3 June 2019.
9. Web site: Mercato : Meziane signe à Al Ain . . 21 June 2019.
10. Web site: Raouf Benguit, nouvelle recrue algérienne de l’EST . mosaiquefm.net . 2 July 2019.
11. Web site: WELKOM PRINCE . beerschot.be . 24 July 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190724181717/https://www.beerschot.be/nl/beerschot-wilrijk/nieuws/welkom-prince . 24 July 2019 . dead .
12. Web site: L1 : Les Usmistes à Tunis pour un stage de dix jours . . 28 July 2019.
13. Web site: USMA : Al Hayet Petroleum évite le forfait... . . 5 August 2019.
14. Web site: Ligue 1 : Les joueurs de l'USMA protestent . . 5 September 2019.
15. Web site: USMA : Une bouffée d’oxygène pour les usmistes . . 19 October 2019.
16. Web site: USMA : Les supporteurs protestent à Alger . . 20 October 2019.
17. Web site: Algerian giants USM Alger face uncertain future with owner in jail . . 29 October 2019.
18. Web site: USMA : Revoilà Oussama Chita . . 23 October 2019.
19. Web site: USMA : Le direction va récupérer l'argent de KIA . . 29 October 2019.
20. Web site: USM Alger : Contrat signé avec le groupe Serport . planetesport.dz . 8 November 2019 . 2019-11-08 . https://web.archive.org/web/20191108112344/http://planetesport.dz/football/football-algerien/15516-2019-11-05-07-30-41 . dead .
21. Web site: MCA-USMA : Recours au TAS de Lausanne déposé . . 11 January 2020.
22. Web site: FICHE DU CLUB: USM ALGER.
23. Web site: USMA: L'espoir Anis Khemaissia première recrue estivale . dknews-dz.com . 9 June 2019.
24. Web site: Mercato : L’USMA engage Lyes Oukal . . 24 June 2019.
25. Web site: Benkhelifa est usmiste . usma.dz . 1 July 2019.
26. Web site: USMA : Tahar Benkhelifa s'engage . . 1 July 2019.
27. Web site: USMA : Zakari Haddouche quatrième recrue . . 2 July 2019.
28. Web site: Karim Louanchi signe 3 ans . usma.dz . 9 July 2019.
29. Web site: Mercato : Kheiraoui nouvelle recrue de l’USMA . DZFoot.com. 9 July 2019.
30. Web site: Ligue 1 : Walid Tiboutine signe à l'USM Alger . . 13 July 2019.
31. Web site: Adam Alilet signe pro . usma.dz . 9 July 2019.
32. Web site: USMA : Signature officielle pour Belkaroui . . 31 July 2019.
33. Web site: Mercato : L'USMA engage Adem Redjehimi . . 31 July 2019.
34. Web site: Ligue 1 : Ilyes Yaiche de retour à l’USMA . . 15 January 2020.
35. Web site: Lyon-Duchère : Un come back de L1 algérienne (off.) . foot-national.com . 7 June 2019.
36. Web site: USMA : Boudebal signe à Lyon Duchère . . 7 June 2019.
37. Web site: JSK : Ammar El Orfi réalise le rêve de ses parents . . 4 July 2019.
38. Web site: MCA : Chafaï officiellement au Mouloudia . competition.dz . 16 July 2019.
39. Web site: إتحاد العاصمة: حامية يفسخ عقده . . 10 July 2019.
40. Web site: Mercato : Hamia s’engage avec le MCO . . 23 July 2019.
41. Web site: USMBA : Benmoussa s'engage pour deux saisons . . 1 August 2019.
42. Web site: Officiel : Benkhemassa s'engage en faveur de Malaga . . 2 September 2019.
43. Web site: USMA : Zakaria Haddouche libéré . . 1 January 2020.
44. Web site: Officiel : Direction la Tunisie pour Zakaria Benchaâ . . 30 January 2020.
45. Web site: CHAMPIONNATS DE LIGUE 1 ET DE LIGUE 2 : LE CALENDRIER DE LA SAISON 2019/2020 . lfp.dz . 1 March 2020.
46. Web site: Ligue 1 de football 2019-2020 : le calendrier complet . aps.dz . 1 March 2020.
47. Web site: USMA 6 - USMK 1: Le récital usmiste . competition.dz. 6 January 2020.