But Popovic refused to give up on his team's slim chance of progression at his pre-match press conference, although he denied the Wanderers will go chasing goals from the opening minute against Urawa at Saitama Stadium.
The Wanderers are six points behind both Urawa and SIPG with two games remaining.
Two wins won't be enough for Western Sydney to finish in the top two in Group F, with teams level on points being split on head-to-head records, meaning the Red-and-Black must overturn 5-1 and 4-0 losses to SIPG and Urawa, respectively.
"First and foremost, we want to win the game, we want to get a result," Popovic said, according to Western Sydney's website.
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"Then we can see if things are going our way, maybe we can look at doing something more in the last 15-20 minutes.
"I think it’d be a big mistake for us to come here and open up immediately."
Urawa have won their past five games in all competitions, including a 1-0 defeat of SIPG in their most recent continental fixture.
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The Reds overcame Consadole Sapporo - the club of ex-Urawa and Western Sydney midfielder Shinji Ono - on Saturday, winning 3-2 in the J.League to remain top of the table, and a draw against the Wanderers will be enough for Mihailo Petrovic's men to secure a Round of 16 berth.
The Wanderers were eliminated from the A-League finals on Friday night, going out via a penalty shootout to Brisbane Roar after dominating the first half.
"They've recovered physically quite well," Popovic said of his players.
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"We obviously had concerns mentally how the players could recover psychologically after losing in a penalty shootout.
"It was a game we played very well but unfortunately we couldn't win in the end but the players look a lot better now.
"They look refreshed they look confident and they’re looking forward to game, so they'll be ready to perform."