5 Things To Know About Sundowns’ Opponents…

AS Far Rabat v Mamelodi Sundowns. Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images.

After setting up a CAF Champions League final against Mamelodi Sundowns, Soccer Laduma looks at five things to know about AS FAR Rabat.

Achievements/Credentials

AS FAR have won the Botola Pro title 13 times, with their most recent league title being in the 2022/23 season, their first since 2008, and a year before they appointed former Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi, who came second before moving to Amakhosi.

The Moroccan side, who have one CAF Champions League title from 1985, had a ten-year absence in the tournament between 2014 and 2024, where they were booted out in the second round.

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Market value

In terms of the total market value of the squad, the Moroccan side is valued at €149 million (R267m) on the Transfermarkt website, while in comparison, Sundowns is almost double their total market value.

The highest-valued players for AS FAR are defensive midfielders Anas Bach and Mohamed Rabie Hrimat, both valued at €1,5 million (R29m). In comparison, the highest-valued player for The Brazilians is Iqraam Rayners, with double that value at €3million (R58m).

Coaching changes

After winning the league title with Fernando Da Cruz in charge in the 2022/23 season, the French-Moroccan was replaced by Nabi, who joined Kaizer Chiefs after one season, after missing out on the title by one point to rivals Raja Casablanca.

Nabi was replaced by Polish coach Czeslaw Michniewicz, who lasted only three months and in came veteran coach Hubert Velud, whose tenure was also short-lived before AS FAR settled for current coach Alexandre Santos in February last year.

Style of play

Santos is known as a coach who prioritises defensive solidity and organised structure before anything else, and has made AS FAR hard to break down, with seven clean-sheets in the current CAF Champions League season.

AS FAR usually plays with a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation, with the former while playing away and the latter at home.

The Moroccan side, which is dangerous on set-pieces, focuses on efficient attacks, particularly on counter-attacks, rather than keeping possession.

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Road to the final

After negotiating past the first and second rounds without any difficulty, AS FAR were drawn in Group B, alongside Al Ahly, Young Africans and JS Kabylie.

The military outfit qualified for the knockout stages as runners-up in the group, one point behind leaders The Red Devils and edged third-placed Young Africans by one point.

AS FAR eliminated Pyramids and RS Berkane on aggregate in the quarter-finals and semi-finals, respectively.

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