Spain finishes Euros prep with five-star display
Spain was at its ruthless best as it swept aside Northern Ireland to conclude its UEFA EURO 2024 preparations with an emphatic 5-1 triumph.
Luis de la Fuente's side had put five goals past Andorra in its previous outing, and repeated the trick in another fine performance here.
But Spain was a goal behind after just 66 seconds in Mallorca when Dan Ballard headed in from Caolan Boyd-Munce's teasing delivery to give Northern Ireland a shock lead.
But the visitors' joy was short-lived as two goals in six minutes courtesy of Pedri and Alvaro Morata saw normal service resume for the three-time European champion.
Barcelona midfielder Pedri netted his second of the evening after being picked out inside the area by Nico Williams to finish beyond Bailey Peacock-Farrell.
La Roja had its fourth shortly before the break as another La Masia graduate took centre stage, Lamine Yamal chipping the ball to Fabian Ruiz, who scored his second international goal.
Having scored a hat-trick in Spain's win over Andorra, Mikel Oyarzabal was on target again to cap off the rout, with teenager Yamal winning possession back in the final third before teeing up the Real Sociedad forward.
Spain has lost just one of its past 27 home international fixtures (won 22, drawn four), and is unbeaten in its past seven such games (won five, drawn one), netting 27 goals in that time.
Northern Ireland's barren run against Spain continues, and it is now winless in all 10 of its previous trips to the country in all competitions, losing on each of its past six visits by an aggregate score of 3-19.
Yamal has been directly involved in five goals in seven senior appearances (four starts) for Spain (two goals, three assists).
His club-mate Pedri, meanwhile, is the youngest player to score more than once in a match for Spain since Ferran Torres's hat-trick against Germany in November 2020.