Clinical Spain finish with a flourish

Spain gave a glimpse of what might have been as they ended their UEFA European Under-19 Championship campaign in impressive fashion with a fine win against Bulgaria to claim third place in Group A.

Devastating display
Both sides were already eliminated but, with a place in next year's FIFA U-20 World Cup awaiting the side who came out on top in Prague, there was still plenty to play for. The sides' goal differences meant Spain needed only a point to finish higher but early strikes from Aarón Ñíguez and Emilio Nsue put Ginés Meléndez's side in complete command. Emilio and Fran Mérida added further goals early in the second period to round off a convincing win, although Spain finished with ten men as Álvaro Domínguez was dismissed for a second bookable offence late on.

Aarón stunner
Spain might have struggled for a cutting edge in their first two matches but the deposed holders had no such problems here, although it was their goalkeeper who made the first save of the match, David de Gea palming Momchil Tsvetanov's free-kick behind. Mérida was soon forcing Ivan Karadzhov into action at the other end, yet the Bulgaria No1 was powerless in the 13th minute when the ball fell to Aarón just inside the opposing half and, a quick glance and a swing of his right boot later, it was sailing over Karadzhov's head and into the net.

Cool finish
Three minutes later it was 2-0, Mérida splitting the Bulgaria defence with a perfectly-weighted pass for Emilio to outpace the centre-backs and calmly slide past Karadzhov. Although Spain lost Aarón to a hamstring injury they continued to look the more likely to get the match's third goal, Daniel Parejo shooting just too high. Bulgaria were not without a threat of their own, however, Tsvetanov meeting Mihail Aleksandrov's left-wing cross with an acrobatic volley that flashed across the face of goal.

Second-half strikes
Spain were quickly back on the front foot at the start of the second half, Daniel Aquino driving into the side-netting after exchanging passes with Emilio, before the same pair combined to make it 3-0 in the 52nd minute, the former whipping in a fine left-wing cross that Emilio expertly guided inside the far post with his head. Jordi Alba then set up Mérida for a fourth just past the hour although Emilio was subsequently denied by Karadzhov after running on to another Mérida pass and Domínguez collected his second yellow card, but Spain had long made sure of the win.