Brian Riemer certainly had reason for encouragement during the early stages of his debut match in charge, as Denmark fearlessly applied pressure.
While Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg couldn’t add a spectacular opener with an effort that sailed harmlessly off-target, he did race back to prevent Ayoze Perez’s pass from reaching Alex Baena in a dangerous position.
Even so, Spain were getting on top and Perez was then unable to guide the ball goalward from the ensuing corner before smashing his strike against the woodwork.
The shift in momentum was reflected by the scoreline on the quarter-hour as Jannik Vestergaard was punished for cheaply conceding possession, with Mikel Oyarzabal collecting Perez’s pass and neatly finishing.
Morten Hjulmand’s header was awkwardly turned behind by Martin Zubimendi but it wasn’t long until Perez was back causing problems, hitting a shot too powerful for Kasper Schmeichel to hold before Dani Olmo poked his follow-up wide.
Denmark then caused chaos of their own as Christian Eriksen’s shot was unconvincingly cleared by Aymeric Laporte and bounced towards Albert Gronbaek, whose shot was deflected behind for a corner that saw Joachim Andersen turn his attempt wide.
David Raya and Olmo sprung a swift move forward shortly after the restart but Perez couldn’t find the target, although the Villarreal forward’s clinical touch soon returned.
In the 58th minute, Olmo slid through a perfectly weighted pass that Perez latched onto before driving a pinpoint shot into the bottom corner.
There was still disappointment for Luis de la Fuente as Baena went off injured, while Perez dinked a sorry attempt wide.
Danish substitute Gustav Isaksen came agonisingly close to halving his team’s deficit with a low strike that cannoned off the post and bounced out but soon got his goal by capitalising on a lax Fabian Ruiz backpass to steal the ball off Raya’s boot.
Andreas Skov Olsen then came agonisingly close to an equaliser in the final moments, as Spain just about saw out their fourth consecutive win, having only needed a draw to wrap up top spot.
La Roja have also now inflicted both of Denmark’s losses this campaign, although the Danes can still secure second place by avoiding defeat against Serbia in their final match - they will have to do that without Hojbjerg and Andersen due to an accumulation of yellow cards.