Spain showed why they are heading into the World Cup as the favourites on Friday evening as they swept Serbia aside, beating them by three goals to nil.
A clinical first-half brace by Mikel Oyarzabal put La Roja in control as both sides headed into the break and a debut goal by Victor Munoz meant Spain had three on the night.
Spain were due to be playing in the Finalissima tonight against Argentina, however due to conflict in the middle east, UEFA decided to cancel.
Serbia, who were due to have played Qatar on Thursday in a friendly, stepped in as last minute opponents.
Oyarzabal shines for Spain
Spain started the brighter of the two sides with Alex Baena coming close to finding the top right corner with a curled effort from inside of the box in the fifth minute. Baena was playing on familiar ground on Friday evening as he only moved on from Villarreal in the summer after switching to La Liga rivals, Atletico Madrid.
Spain sliced through the Serbian defence in the 16th minute and took the lead.
The Barcelona duo of Lamine Yamal and Fermin Lopez linked up well on the edge of the box, with Lopez passing to his left to Mikel Oyarzabal. The Real Sociedad striker got the ball out of his feet with his left foot and struck the ball with power into the top right corner.
That was Oyarzabal's 10th goal in his last 10 matches for the national side. The work of Baena could not be overlooked in the build-up to the goal as his calculated feint allowed Oyarzabal the space required to get his shot off following the pass from Lopez.
Spain nearly doubled their lead in the 19th minute as Yamal's left-footed strike from the edge of the box hit the right post. Again it was Baena making things happen as he was the one who picked out the 2024 Golden Boy winner.
Lopez believed he had scored his first international goal in the 35th minute, however Portuguese referee, Luis Godinho, ruled it out as Lopez seemed to handle the ball in the build-up.
What happened in the 43rd minute was sublime.
It was Oyarzabal and the top right corner linking up once again.
Pau Cubarsi zipped the ball into Oyarzabal's feet who had acres of space outside of the box. It only took a touch outside of his feet and a cheeky glance at the top right corner for him to find it. It really was a sublime strike with his left foot that arrowed into the back of the net.
Vanja Milinkovic-Savic had every right to be furious at his defence and midfield for not pressing Oyarzabal, given the quality that he possesses.
Luis de la Fuente's side were two goals to the good at the half-time break.
Veljko Paunovic's Serbia had not posed a threat in the opening 45 minutes.
Munoz marks debut with a goal
There were a couple of half-time alterations for La Roja as Dani Olmo and Pablo Fornals replaced Fermin Lopez and Pedri.
Serbia had a goal disallowed in the 50th minute and it was Veljko Birmancevic who thought he had pulled one back for his country. However, he was found to have pushed Marc Cucurella in the back before finding the net. There was no VAR in use on Friday evening.
Paunovic looked to freshen things up on the hour mark with a quartet of changes. Luka Jovic, Sasa Lukic, Lazar Samardzic and Mijat Gacinovic all entered the field of play.
The man of the moment, Mikel Oyarzabal, was swapped out for debutant, Victor Munoz, in the 62nd minute.
Fast forward ten minutes and Munoz had a debut goal.
It was three of the substitutes who combined. Olmo slipped through Ferran Torres who with cheek, backheeled the ball into the path of the on-running Munoz. The Osasuna forward then showed no nerves as he curled the ball with the outside of his right boot into the bottom left corner.
It was a moment that the 22-year-old will never forget.
Milinkovic-Savic had to pull off a world class save to deny Dani Olmo of a fourth for Spain. From close range the Serbian goalkeeper reacted well to dive to his right and tip the ball over the crossbar. It was worthy of a standing ovation from Paunovic.
Spain next face Egypt on Tuesday evening which is set to be their final game before their World Cup opener against Cape Verde on the 15th of June.
Serbia face Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, March 31 in another friendly.
