MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - CSKA Moscow kick off their UEFA Cup group stage campaign on Thursday evening with a home match against Spanish side Deportivo, described by the Russian club's manager as an "average" team.

"Our opponents are an average Spanish team who have seen better days," CSKA's manager, Valery Gazzayev, said at the pre-match press conference.

"In our group only one team stands out. That's CSKA," Deportivo manager Miguel Angel Lotina told the Russian daily, Sport-Express. "They are stronger than the others in the group - the other four teams, including us, are all at about the same level."

When asked if he agreed with this, Gazzayev said, "Yes."

Group H also contains Holland's Feyenoord, French club Nancy, and Poland's Lech Poznan. The top three teams in the group stages go through to the play-offs, where they will be joined by the third placed teams from the current Champions League groups.

Deportivo, who have never faced Russian opposition, are currently 11th in La Liga.

"I follow the Russian championship," the Deportivo coach went on. "After Euro 2008, lots of people in Spain got really interested in the Russian league."

Russian sides have established a strong record in Europe's second club competition in recent years, with CSKA lifting the trophy in 2004/2005 and Zenit St. Petersburg the current holders.

However, when asked what was more important for him, the Russian title or the UEFA Cup, Gazzayev, answered, "The national championship always comes first. We should respect and value it."

CSKA have won their last six games in the Russian Premier League and are currently in second place, seven points behind 2008's surprise package, Rubin FC. Gazzayev has said he will leave the club at the end of this season, citing "tiredness."

CSKA eased past Croatian minnows NK Slaven Koprivnica in the UEFA Cup qualifying stages to move into the group stage.

The match takes place at the Luzhniki stadium in southwest Moscow. The game kicks off at 8:00 p.m. (16:00 GMT). It will be shown live on Russia's Sport channel.

Spartak Moscow, Russia's other representative in the UEFA Cup, start their group campaign with a home match against Italian side Udinese on November 6. Spartak are in the same group as England's Tottenham Hotspur, Croatia's Dynamo Zagreb, and Holland's NEC Nijmegen.

Spartak recently sold striker Roman Pavlyuchenko to Tottenham Hotspur, but the Russian international has already appeared for the Moscow club in the Champions League qualifying stages and is ineligible to face his old teammates. Spartak were knocked out of the Champions League by Dynamo Kiev, losing 4-1 home and away in the third qualifying round.