Far from setting Europa alight, Zenit and Spartak find themselves in the company of Galatasaray, Lille, Nordsjaelland, Ajax, Olympiakos and Dinamo Zagreb who have also failed to get off the mark in their opening two group stage games.
The situation is particularly embarrassing for Russian champions Zenit, who splurged around 100 million euros to lure Brazilian forward Hulk and Belgium's Alex Witsel to the club.
This week's third round of matches, where Real Madrid's visit to Borussia Dortmund is the highlight, is also potentially decisive for the hopes of Manchester City, Juventus and Benfica, who have yet to win a game between them.
Russian clubs have been attracting more high profile foreigners recently with Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o playing at league leaders Anzhi Makhachkala.
But, while CSKA Moscow and Zenit have recently won the UEFA Cup, since rebranded Europa League, the spending spree has yet to translate into results in the continent's flagship competition.
Zenit will finally hope to get off the mark against Belgian champions Anderlecht, who have one point, in Group C on Wednesday, where Malaga (6) and Milan (4), who meet in Spain, are already looking the likely qualifiers despite the Serie A side's domestic troubles.
"It's not a good moment, but we have to stay lucid and maintain balance," said Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri after his side lost 3-2 at Lazio on Saturday.
"I think that lately, the team has put in some good performances but has also paid a high price for the mistakes we made."
Ueni Emery's side, who led 2-1 against both Barcelona and Celtic before slumping to defeat, have a very poor home record in the Champions League group stage, with only one win in their last 15 attempts.
If leaders Barcelona (6) beat Celtic (4) as expected in the group's other game, a Spartak win could lift them back into contention.
