Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou explains why Man City defeat was 'worst managerial experience' of his career and admits to getting 'cold sweats'

Tottenham's fixture against City not only held significant implications for both clubs but also had huge ramifications on the Premier League title race as Arsenal hoped to get a favour from their North London rivals to maintain their edge over Pep Guardiola's troops in the standings. However, a 2-0 victory for the reigning champions almost dashed their hopes of conquering England again after two decades.

Given the fierce rivalry between Tottenham and Arsenal, many Spurs supporters wanted their team to go down despite having their top-four hopes on the line. This infuriated the Aussie manager and in the immediate aftermath of the defeat, Postecoglou did not shy away from delivering an honest assessment of the situation and went on to criticise the club for having "fragile foundations".

Addressing the media again on Friday afternoon ahead of Tottenham's final game of the season against Sheffield United, Postecoglou revisited his comments and admitted that he got "cold sweats" before the match as the result could have had many questioning his integrity.

"That's probably the worst experience I've had as a football manager in a game," he said. "Once I realised I'd got it wrong in terms of what the atmosphere was going to be like and what people felt. I got a real anxiety within me of, what happens if Man City, the best team in the world, who were disposing of teams quite easily in the lead up - four at Brighton... - what if we play as well as we can but they beat us 5-0? I got cold sweats thinking about people questioning my integrity and the people I work with."

The defeat to City marked the end of Tottenham’s hopes for Champions League qualification, with Aston Villa now secured a top-flight European berth. However, they have all to play for against Sheffield United as they must avoid defeat at Bramall Lane to stop Chelsea from displacing them from the fifth spot in the standings.