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Slovenia's most successful club has been drawn in Group D of the UEFA Europa League along with Rubin Kazan, England's Wigan and Zulte Waregem of Belgium. It will play in the Europa League for the third year in a row.

It will be the first match between the two clubs ever. Slovenian clubs played two times against Russian clubs in major European competition, with Celje being eliminated by Novogorod in 1997 and Primorje by Zenit in 2001.

"We have the opportunity to play in the Europa League for the third year in a row, which is proof of good work in the club. I expect that the team, although the Russian team is much more expensive, will play relaxed," coach Ante Čačić told a press conference on Wednesday.

The group stage of the UEFA Europa League will conclude on 12 December, with each contestant meeting all other contestants at home and away.

Maribor were sent to Europe's second-strongest club competition by Viktoria Plzen of the Czech Republic, which defeated the Slovenian champions in the play-off for the UEFA Champions League.