It was a masterclass, nothing less. Of passing, of finishing, of wit, of invention, of all the things that we know Spain can do well but, more than that, it was a lesson in mental strength and psychological conditioning, too, the areas in which this team were presumed to be weak. Given a tournament to win, Spanish footballers become basket cases, history teaches us that. Rationality is forgotten. To put it bluntly, their bottle goes.

And having already defeated Russia 4-1 in the group stage, they now had everything to lose, going into this game. How many times have we seen Spain crack before? How many times have they looked like the team in form, the team to beat, only to disappoint, limping home to the distant sound of mocking laughter? Not this lot. They held their nerve, they held their own, even after 34 minutes when they lost David Villa, their most successful striker in this tournament, even at half-time when it was goalless and the tension was growing.

They did not wilt, they did not panic. They remained confident, they passed and kept passing, their defenders kept Russia comfortably at arm’s length, and when the goals came, they came in a torrent, like the rain that fell throughout the night on Ernst Happel Stadium and, as it fell, washed away over four decades of pain for La Furia Roja.

It was 1964 when Spain last won a significant trophy, 1984 when the country last reached a final and with one landmark achieved, the other is surely in sight. Germany will have to play at their very best to win here on Sunday, if Spain recapture this level of performance. Andrés Iniesta was simply exceptional, Cesc Fàbregas, who replaced Villa, not far behind. Together they took Guus Hiddink’s overachieving Russia apart in a second-half display that was as emphatic as it was edifying.

The goals were the work of a team at the top, intellectually. Well constructed and taken with assurance, all featured fine passing movement in the build-up and a sure finish, and had Fernando Torres not missed one of the best opportunities of the night in the 62nd minute, this could have been the biggest win of the tournament, instead of just the most convincing of the knockout stages. Villa, who pulled a muscle in his leg, is highly unlikely to feature against Germany, which is a blow, but one man’s misfortune is another’s opportunity, and in this case the beneficiary is Fàbregas, of Arsenal, who has made several substitute appearances of increasing influence throughout the competition.

This was a fresh peak, though, in that Spain really played to their potential only once Fàbregas was involved, and Villa’s likely absence should give him the start against Germany he deserves. However, those who decry the thinking of Luis Aragonés, the coach, in making him wait, do a disservice to the quartet that start the game for Spain in midfield, who may yet live up to the insistence of Fabio Capello, the England manager, that they constitute the best in Europe.

The man-of-the-match award here went to Iniesta and little wonder. He was magnificent, conjuring one of the finest individual turns of the tournament, and if Fàbregas takes credit for the killer passes that set up Spain’s second and third goals, it was Iniesta’s ingenuity that broke the deadlock for the first. There were 50 minutes gone when a superb run by Iniesta was completed by a low, driven cross — which some churlish sorts claimed was a wayward shot, although the form he was in would suggest he was not given to errors of misdirection. It was turned into the net by Xavi Hernández, his Barcelona team-mate, who sidefooted it on the volley, having stolen in between Russia’s sleeping centre halves.

As Russian resistance failed to materialise, so Spanish supremacy grew, and Torres could have wrapped up the contest even earlier had he not made a rather bizarre hash of a cross from Sergio Ramos, falling over as he shaped to score, the ball cannoning wide off his knee. It was to be his last noteworthy act of the game.

Daniel Güiza replaced Torres after 68 minutes — this has not been the happiest tournament for the Liverpool forward despite Spain’s success — and the substitute was quickly on the scoresheet, brought into the game by a delightful chip from Fàbregas in the 73rd minute, running in behind Russia’s defenders, before lifting the ball wide of Igor Akinfeev, helpless in goal. It merely remained for David Silva to underline Spain’s superiority with a clinical finish after Fàbregas had taken advantage of yards of space on the left, completing a powerful run with a perfect cross in the 81st minute.

Make no mistake, this could have been a difficult night for the Spanish and they deserve credit for making it look very easy. Even Andrei Arshavin, rapidly gaining momentum as one of the players of the tournament, was shackled by the outstanding Marcos Senna, Spain’s holding midfield player, who stomped all over his favourite space, rendering him anonymous.

Had Spain lost, Uefa’s wisdom in rematching teams that had already met in the group stage would have been questioned so, with such comfortable progress, a different version of the same argument remains. Namely: was it right that Spain faced opponents they had already beaten 4-1 for a place in the European Championship final?

The answer, quite simply, is that it was not, although if Spain add Germany, the tournament favourites, to their list of victims, along with Italy, the world champions, Greece, the European champions, plus Russia and Sweden, it could not be claimed that they were unworthy of the prize, however poorly planned the route.

Russia (4-1-4-1): I Akinfeev — A Anyukov, S Ignashevich, V Berezutski, Y Zhirkov — S Semak — I Saenko (sub: D Sychev, 57min), I Semshov (sub: D Bilyaletdinov, 56), K Zyryanov, A Arshavin — R Pavlyuchenko. Substitutes not used: V Gabulov, V Malafeev, R Yanbaev, A Berezutski, R Adamov, O Ivanov, R Shirokov, V Bystrov. Booked: Zhirkov, Bilyaletdinov.

Spain (4-4-2): I Casillas — S Ramos, C Puyol, C Marchena, J Capdevila — A Iniesta, M Senna, Xavi Hernández (sub: X Alonso, 69), D Silva — D Villa (sub: F Fàbregas, 34), F Torres (sub: D Güiza, 69). Substitutes not used: A Palop, J M Reina, R Albiol, F Navarro, S Cazorla, S García, Á Arbeloa, Juanito, R De La Red.

Referee: F de Bleeckere (Belgium).