The current Chinese Super League champions have yet to reach the final in four appearances and Pereira felt the loss of the suspended Hulk and Odil Ahmedov’s injury-enforced absence, coupled with Yang Shiyuan’s early withdrawal due to a knock, were key factors in his side’s elimination.

“For this game we had a lot of problems,” said the Portuguese coach. “The injury of Odil, Hulk out because of the yellow card, Shi Ke had a fever and we only know at the last minute if he could play - he tried and he did well - and after that, the injury of Yang."

“Yang is a player who, when we are defending, when we lose the ball is very aggressive and gives us high pressure. Lin Chuangyi did well, he played a good game but it’s one more injury. I don’t know if it’s serious or not. Maybe the knee.

“We tried everything. We played with spirit in the second half, we tried everything and we tried until the end to score the second goal. That’s the most important.

“Of course I’m sad because of the result, but there’s nothing I can say about my team because all the players tried to do their best and this is our commitment and this is what is important in this situation.”

Shanghai came into the game knowing they needed to score and avoid conceding after a 2-2 draw in the first leg at Shanghai Stadium gave Urawa the advantage and Pereira’s side were put under further pressure when Shinzo Koroki put the home side in front.

Wang Shenchao levelled the scores on the night for SIPG 15 minutes after the restart, but they were unable to find a way past Shusaku Nishikawa for a second time as Urawa booked their place in the semi-finals for a fourth time since 2007.

“For the first 20 minutes we did well, we pressed them,” said Pereira. “In a strategic way we did well. In the last 20 minutes, 25 minutes (of the first half) they were better than us. They started to create problems with the long balls and they switched a lot of times because they had the time to look to the other side.

“We went into the dressing room and we tried to correct something, the position of the game, and in the second half we tried to fight to create problems. After our goal I think they were shaking a little bit, they lost the confidence. We had a corner and we could have scored, but in the end it was 1-1. That was the game.

“We did what we can do today, I’m happy with my players. They fought a lot and they tried to get a result to go forward in this competition, but that was impossible.”

The defeat leaves Pereira and his team to focus on the defence of their Chinese Super League title, with the club currently in third place in the standings with six games remaining having already exited the Chinese FA Cup.

“We tried to do our best in the three competitions,” Pereira said. “We know our squad is not able to compete in three competitions, it’s almost impossible to do it but we tried our best and I’m happy with my team and my players. They tried to win the game.

“In the cup it was the same and in the league we are fighting. It’s not easy, but we are fighting for the best position in the league.”