Calmly and relentlessly, Spain move on, demonstrating on a night of Albanian passion and partisanship on the Rhine that this team has a depth of winners. England can reflect that Albania’s defeat guarantees their progress. It’s cold comfort.

Luis de la Fuente fielded a reserve side, in the knowledge that Spain would go through as group winners, and some side it was. Some were less well known and appreciated than the 16-year-old Lamine Yamal, who arrived from the bench for the last half hour.

They tired slightly in the face of Albanians for whom this was a night to discuss for all time. But the precision, self-assurance, fluidity and vision were something to behold.

There was a pessimism borne of Albania having lost to Spain in each of the eight occasions they had faced them, but such an abundance of reasons to will the night’s Rojas to secure the improbable win they needed to progress.

Most of all, the colour and energy of a fan base who streamed to this ground in warm sunshine, many in their distinctive Geleshe hats, which looked like white Christmas puddings. They bounced up and down in unison, a kind of front-facing ‘Poznan’, and set off the flares which saw the early minutes of the game played in a smoky haze.

Sentiment can be desperately hard to find in football, though. Spain, so impressive against Italy on Thursday, fielded a B-team — and yet by half time this had looked like nothing more than a training session.

The early goal took the breath away and, you might say, was even worth the €300 tickets had been flogged for outside.

A ball traced along the surface of the pitch by Dani Olmo and arced into the net by Ferran Torres, who did not even need to scan the horizon to know where he was going to send it. He blanked the encroaching Albanian defender, Mario Mitaj, as if he didn’t exist.

At 26, Olmo, the Leipzig man, is not one of the prodigious new Spanish generation, but what a clever player between lines. What a player to have in reserve.

There should have been more for Spain in short order, even though both members of left flank axis who quietly pulled Italy apart — Nico Williams and Marc Cucurella — were rested. Alex Grimaldo stepped up and produced something similar down that flank.

His cross to Torres was wasted and so too his lay-back to Mikel Merino, who shanked his shot. Spain were struggling for the intensity because it was simply not a requisite.

Albania’s Kristjan Asllani, of Inter Milan, gave the fans some encouragement just before half time. His 20-yard shot brought David Raya flying to his left to get both gloves to it. But the scale of the task was akin to climbing the Albanian Alps in flip-flops.

When the team found the remotest pockets of space in the last third, the two Real Sociedad players patrolling the back of Spain’s midfield, Martin Zubimendi and Merino, snuffed out the threat.

By the break, a few of the Albanian faithful had resorted to throwing plastic cups on the pitch. Perhaps they, too, saw the futility of their team dropping deep, without the remotest pace to get past Spain.

In the early stages of the second half, with Spain beginning to make changes and beginning to drop their tempo, Slough-born substitute Armando Broja, on loan at Fulham from Chelsea last season, tried to lob Raya, though he was equal to the effort.

Albania can say they went down fighting. Spain can say they are serious contenders.