Tottenham came up short against Manchester City - do it again against United and their season is over

For Mauricio Pochettino and Tottenham Hotspur, this was the worst time to play Manchester City. After one of the most deflating weeks of the Abu Dhabi era, three straight defeats to Liverpool, Manchester United and Liverpool again, City came to Wembley with a point to prove and the strongest incentives not to lose an unprecedented fourth game on the spin.

So after Pochettino saw his Spurs side turned over, he could only hold his hands up and admit how hard it was. "Of course, City came from bad results, but that always makes a team like them dangerous," he said. "Because they have unbelievable players, and when they are focused and aggressive, they can perform in the way they showed today."

Pochettino has proven to be a master of overcoming the odds against far richer teams, especially at home, which is why it was so unusual to see City dominating like they did in the first half. So the big question going into this week for Spurs is whether they can avoid the same problem against Manchester United on Saturday.

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While this was a big game for City's season it was a small one for Spurs. Even after losing they are still seven points ahead of Chelsea and it would take a bizarre collapse for Spurs not to finish fourth this year. Which, thanks to Uefa's Champions League reforms, will send them straight through to the group stage next season without need of a play-off.

It is the FA Cup which will define the end of Spurs' season. They showed they can beat Manchester United here, when they rolled them over at Wembley 2-0 back on 31 January. Now they have to show it was not a one-off and that they can beat them again. It will require another performance of confidence, courage and precision if they are do it, knowing that failure would only reinforce their tag as the best trophyless team in the country.

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Every season Spurs play in the Champions League they are further defying football gravity. Pochettino knows this which is why he said it will be so hard for Spurs ever to get to the level of City, still heading after last week for a record points total. "You know, people know, we know, we are working in a different way from them," Pochettino admitted when asked about City. "We cannot compare to them. Of course, we need to work hard, to try reach the level of City. We still need to work a lot, you never know, one day you can reach the level. But at the end, sometimes, it is not easy."

Pochettino pointed to the money available to City and United, reinforcing a financial gap that is only going to get bigger this summer. "Pep, or Mourinho, they invest in more quality, different stars, but in our club we have different philosophy, it's not the same," he said. "That's why everything we are doing is fantastic. Because we are working with different tools."

On Saturday Spurs will have to pick up those tools again and use them to pick apart United. It will be easier than this, but they will have to play much better, if they do not want to end another season empty-handed.