Spain's UEFA Nations League finale against Germany was expected to be a close run affair. Germany needed only to avoid defeat to guarantee top spot, whereas Spain knew they had to win in order to leapfrog Die Mannschaft into first. Many expected Germany, who were unbeaten in 12 coming into Tuesday's game, to secure the necessary result and join France in next year's UEFA Nations League finals. Spain, though, had other ideas.
La Roja went ahead through Alvaro Morata after 17 minutes before doubling their advantage with a little over 10 minutes to go until the break as Ferran Torres bagged his first of the night. Manchester City teammate Rodri added his first and Spain's third shortly before the interval.
Torres notched his second and Spain's fourth 10 minutes after the restart and added his third with 20 minutes to go. Mikel Oyarzabal compounded a miserable evening for Germany late on as Spain ran out 6-0 winners. The result saw Jogi Loew's side fell to their heaviest competitive defeat in their history.
In truth, it could have been more. Spain mustered a whopping 23 shots to Germany's two, despite fielding a front three of Serge Gnabry, who had both of Germany's efforts, Timo Werner and Leroy Sane. 10 of La Roja's efforts hit their mark compared to Germany's zero, and that's not including a Morata goal that was questionably ruled out for a marginal offside call shortly after the Juventus forward had put Spain ahead.
Even without looking at the scoreline, this was a dominant performance by Luis Enrique's side, who kicked off with the intention to win and didn't let up. Spain managed just shy of 70% possession, something you'd expect against one of football's minnows, let alone an international heavyweight of Germany's standing.
That goalkeeper Unai Simon (41) managed more accurate passes than all but one Germany player - Toni Kroos, with 42 - further reinforces the sheer dominance by Spain in a match that saw them forced into two first half subs as Sergio Canales and Sergio Ramos both pulled up with injury in the opening 45 minutes. Yet replacements Fabian Ruiz and Eric Garcia didn't disappoint, with the former managing a hat-trick of assists following his introduction in the 12th minute.
The ratings speak volumes, too, with Canales, who lasted just 12 minutes on Tuesday night, earning a better WhoScored rating (6.48) than any other Germany player. For Loew's side, their best rated player was Benjamin Henrichs, with a 6.24. For context, Henrichs replaced Timo Werner with 15 minutes left to play.
Defeat increases the pressure on Loew, though DFB Sporting Director Oliver Bierhoff has backed the under fire boss, stating last night: "This game changes nothing." Nevertheless, Germany have been in something of a downward spiral since Russia 2018, where the defending champions crashed out of the World Cup at the group stage.
The decision to oust the likes of Thomas Muller, Jerome Boateng and Mats Hummels looks to be coming back to haunt Loew and Germany, particularly with the defence struggling to contain the likes of Morata, man of the match Torres and Dani Olmo, and an attack that managed just one key pass over 90 minutes on Tuesday, that courtesy of Ilkay Gundogan shortly before Morata's strike.
For Spain, the win sees them end a testing UEFA Nations League campaign on a high. La Roja drew 1-1 with Switzerland over the weekend as Yann Sommer twice denied Serio Ramos from the spot. That stalemate followed on from a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Ukraine last month, but Enrique rallied his troops to end the group stage campaign with a flourish.
