Having seen fellow A-League clubs Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners taste continental glory previously, Sydney FC are not giving up on their own bid to reach a maiden Asian final.
They are confident they have what it takes to overturn a 2-0 deficit suffered in a shock loss to Lion City Sailors in last week's semifinal first leg in the AFC Champions League Two.
But that match also provided a stern lesson that they can ill afford any lapses in concentration even against the unheralded Singapore Premier League outfit, who have produced quite the fairy-tale run in the tournament.
Although Sydney dominated possession -- 69% to 31% -- last Wednesday, they struggled to significantly threaten the opposition goal with just two shots on target.
The Sailors had three and, more importantly, took their opportunities, opening the scoring with a long-range stunner from Bart Ramselaar before Lennart Thy made the most of a half-chance when he caught Sydney goalkeeper Harrison Devenish-Meares out at his near post with a sly finish.
It is this clinical edge the Sailors displayed that has Sydney aware they cannot just go for all-out attack in Wednesday's return encounter at Allianz Stadium.
"There's not the mindset [that] we're going to go all out, all guns blazing," said Sydney coach Ufuk Talay in the pre-match news conference.
"We need to be smart in the decisions that we make. We know that we need to score two goals to get the aggregate to 2-2, and then possibly look for the third. If that takes longer than 90 minutes for us to get there, then it does.
"But we're going to go out with the mentality that we obviously need to play well and perform well and score two goals to give ourselves the best chance to get something out of the game."
Referring to the goals that the Sailors had scored in the opening encounter, Sydney midfielder Anthony Cáceres admitted: "They were quality goals. Particularly the first, I thought, from that distance you don't often see them go in.
"But we're aware of their threats. We know what we need to do to nullify those threats. And, ultimately, the focus needs to be there on the day.
"We've done it several times this year, where we had our backs against the wall and it looked like [we had] no way out and somehow we would come up with something -- which is testament to the character of the group, and the belief that we have in what we're doing and in the game plan.
"So I think we have all the tools at our disposal."
For all of Sydney's domestic success, with an A-League record five championships and four premierships to their names, Talay is aware of the significance in making their mark on the continental stage.
"The club's been very successful in the domestic scene," he added.
"For us to reach the semifinal of an ACL competition and possibly get through this stage and play a final -- the club's never achieved that, so I think the boys and the club are in a great position to put themselves in that position.
"I think the boys thoroughly understand. They're all professionals. They all understand where we can get by obviously winning this game [and] playing in the final, which the club has never achieved."