Luis de la Fuente had described Spain v Italy as a clásico, a game that could easily be a final; watching this, he might have been half right. The team he coaches beat Italy by an own goal, scored by Riccardo Calafiori, to win the Group of Death with a match to spare but that doesn’t tell the story, nor begin to express the way they took Italy apart. The surprise was not that Luciano Spalletti’s side had lost here but that they did so narrowly, somehow alive to the last. Spain are in the next round; if they continue to play like this, they will surely go further too. Reaching the final, on this evidence, is no fantasy. The concern may be that a destruction so complete did not deliver a more comfortable victory, but what a performance this was, 20 shots fired off, 50 attacks launched, and illustrious opponents taken to pieces from the first minute to the last, when Ayoze Pérez came on and twice almost made it two. One would have to do, somehow. In the buildup to this match Lamine Yamal had talked about the value of taking on the full-back, going one on one from the very start and refusing to let up; football, he said, is a “psychological game”. If you beat him the first time, you can feel the fear, see it in his eyes. And if you don’t, well, then you go back and do it again until you do. That was the theory, the idea the Spain coach drove into his two wingers; here it was in practice. The game was only 85 seconds old when Nico Williams raced past Giovanni Di Lorenzo and delivered a glorious cross from which Pedri jumped and headed at goal. A few centimetres either side and it would surely have been the opener, but Gianluigi Donnarumma threw up a hand and pushed it over the bar. Williams had gone outside that time. He would come inside the next time, flying into the area, an opportunity to shoot momentarily opening up. The third time, he went back outside. Poor Di Lorenzo, he just couldn’t live with this; it was a wonder his legs weren’t tied in a cartoon knot. Not that Di Lorenzo was alone in his suffering; over on the other side Federico Dimarco was soon having almost as bad a time of it. The game wasn’t even four minutes in when Lamine Yamal delivered the first dangerous ball, a warning that he was not going to let up either. Nico and Lamine, Lamine and Nico. Again and again. What a pair they are, two wingers who together are younger than Jesús Navas and who Italy could not live with. There was an ooh when Williams pirouetted, an aah when Lamine Yamal produced an outrageous touch to escape a wild lunge from Lorenzo Pellegrini. And there was attack after attack. Nor was it just them. Marc Cucurella was superb. Rodri ran this, only he never seems to actually run. Pedri and Fabián Ruiz played. Spain took Italy to pieces, pressing high and also springing from deep. A lovely move began with Álvaro Morata nodding down and ended with him curling in a wonderful ball top the far post from where Williams nodded a clear opportunity wide. Williams then skinned Di Lorenzo again before Lamine Yamal spun 30 yards from goal, left three men on the floor and scrambled the ball to Morata who turned away from Riccardo Calafiori and drew a sharp save from Donnarumma. Next a gorgeous, clean exchange between Pedri, Ruiz and Dani Carvajal worked an opening for Rodri on the edge of the area. Spain could have been three up and they weren’t letting up. At half-time, it was almost absurd that they didn’t lead. It was 9-1 in shots; Italy’s had not come until stoppage time and in fairness it was a decent chance, sliced over by Federico Chiesa. Still Spain came; still, the chances went. Cucurella got beyond Italy and pulled back the perfect pass. From seven yards, Pedri sidefooted wide. He fell to the floor, head in the turf unable to believe it. Italy, though, could not hold out for ever. In fact, after 11 Spanish attempts, Italy scored the goal for them. Again, Williams did it, accelerating past Di Lorenzo. Morata could only get the slightest touch on the cross and the same was true of Donnarumma. Calafiori got more of one, deflecting into the net. Spain led but did not rest. This was relentless. Morata’s shot was saved. Robin Le Normand’s header was cleared off the line. And then Lamine Yamal curled just past the far post from 20 yards; what a goal that would have been. The 16-year-old turned to the stand and gestured for them to get on their feet. What a goal this would have been too: from the other side, Williams cut inside and hit a swinging shot that slammed back off the bar. That Spain’s lead was still only one was ridiculous, and there had been a reminder that it wasn’t over when Bryan Cristante sent a low cross all the way through the six-yard box where Mateo Retegui just failed to make contact. Spain though would not be denied.