Spain on Thursday booked their place in the finals of the UEFA Nations League after thrashing Germany 6-0 in a group-stage match. Ferran Torres struck a hat-trick to hand Germany their bigges defeat.

Desperate to win to stay ahead Die Mannschaft, Spain dominated the proceedings from the word go. Coach Luis Enrique brought striker Alvaro Morata, midfielders Koke and Sergio Canales and left-back Jose Luis Gaya into his side to give more attacking options.

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Even though Canales could spend only seven minutes on the field due to injury, Morata’s opener in the 17th minute compensated for it. With a flurry of goals following, Spain looked monstrous against an opponent who hardly posed any threat.

The goal gave the Spanish confidence and they began to pin the Germans back in their own half. Torres shot just wide, before Morata had the ball in the net again after a flowing move, only for the offside flag to rule his effort out.

Manuel Neuer did well to deny Torres on the half hour, but was beaten for a second time in the 33rd minute when the Manchester City forward smashed the ball home after Dani Olmo’s header had bounced back off the crossbar.

Spain were rampant and Rodri added a third as the Germans again failed to defend a corner, allowing him a free header.

Sergio Ramos had to leave the game shortly before half-time after appearing to suffer a hamstring injury and was replaced by Eric Garcia.

Ramos’ absence didn’t seem to make any difference to Spain, as Torres netted his second and Spain’s fourth of the night with a close range finish after Fabian and Gaya launched a counter-attack.

Torres made it 5-0 and completed his hat-trick in the 72nd minute with a crisp shot from outside of the area after another break involving Fabian.

Serge Gnabry hit the bar from distance for Germany, but it was their only chance of the entire game and substitute Mikel Oyarzabal added a sixth for Spain in the 89th minute after more good work from Gaya.

In another match of the day, Portugal won a thriller against Croatia. The Cristiano Ronaldo-led side beat the 2018 World Cup runners up 3-2.

Meanwhile, France registered a comprehensive victory of 4-2, after rallying from one goal down against Sweden.