The Europa League’s Draw on July 22 at the UEFA’s headquarters in Nyon, paired Spartak Moscow with Switzerland’s Thun. Their opening encounter was scheduled to be played on August 8 at the 10,000-seat capacity Stockhorn Arena, formerly known as Arena Thun, and the return match would be played a week later in Russia.

THUN /Switzerland/, August 7. /TASS/. Two equal teams will hit the field tomorrow in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League’s match between Switzerland’s Thun and Russia’s Spartak Moscow FC, Oleg Kononov, the head coach of the Russian club, said on Wednesday.

"The Swiss championship keeps progressing," Spartak Moscow FC Head Coach Kononov told a news conference ahead of the match with the Swiss club. "This progress can be proved by the success achieved on behalf of the national team of Switzerland’s and the national football clubs playing in the [UEFA] Champions League."

"The majority of players in the clubs’ rosters are locals," he continued. "Thun [FC] is a very fast club and its team is known for a rapid switch from the defense to offense."

Asked by journalists whether Kononov viewed Spartak FC ‘as a major club set to play away against minnows,’ the Russian coach said, "Both - me personally and the players - share the same opinion: two equal teams pursuing the same aim will be playing against each other tomorrow."

Kononov also said that Spartak Moscow’s recently purchased on a loan agreement German striker Andre Schurrle, who is the 2014 FIFA World Cup, was getting well along with the team.

"Schurrle is an extremely positive player," Kononov stated. "He instantly blended in with the team."

"All players view him as a very positive person and the more players like him we have playing for Spartak the better," the head coach of Spartak Moscow FC added.

Spartak Moscow FC, which finished 5th in the Russian Premier League (RPL) last season, never played official matches against Swiss football club Thun.

In all, the Russian club has a record of 13 matches played against football clubs from Switzerland at various UEFA tournaments.

Spartak Moscow FC played six matches against Basel (two wins; three defeats; one draw), met twice with Luzern (one win; one draw), faced Sion two times (two wins); had two encounters with St. Gallen (one draw; one defeat) and enjoyed a victory over Zurich.

Throughout its almost one century-long history, Spartak Moscow FC was 12-time USSR champion, ten-time Russia champion and the club is the winner of other numerous awards and trophies.