Spain ease to 3-0 win over Serbia and reach Nations League knockouts

(corrects to Group Four in second paragraph )

By Fernando Kallas

CORDOBA, Spain :European champions Spain claimed a place in the Nations League quarter-finals with a 3-0 home win over Serbia thanks to goals by Aymeric Laporte, Alvaro Morata and Alex Baena on Tuesday.

With two games left, Spain have secured at least a second-place finish as they top League A Group Four with 10 points, three ahead of Denmark and six clear of Serbia, with Switzerland bottom on one point after a 2-2 home draw with the Danes.

Spain were missing several players from the team that beat England 2-1 in the Euro 2024 final in July but still outclassed Serbia with 30 shots against three from the visitors.

Defender Laporte gave the Spaniards the lead with a close-range header in the fifth minute and Morata, who missed a penalty in the 54th, extended Spain's lead with a strike from just inside the box after 65 minutes.

Serbia's Strahinja Pavlovic was shown a straight red card for a last-man foul on Mikel Oyarzabal on the edge of the area in the 78th and Baena curled a delightful free kick into the top corner to wrap up an easy victory for Spain.

"We are in another final stage of a major tournament and that is something to be proud of," captain Morata told Spanish public television TVE.

"It seems easy because we are always there in the final stages but sure it isn't so we have to understand how special it is and give it the proper value it has.

"We have several injured players, we missed them but we have to look at the positives that are young players stepping up. What we have created is special and we have to keep going forward. Spain has an incredible future."

After beating Denmark 1-0 on Saturday without Dani Carvajal and Rodri due to serious knee injuries,