Luis Figo and Rui Costa may have stumbled in the U-21 European Championship final 21 years ago, but it will take a lot to stop Portugal’s current crop from triumphing if their mauling of favourites Germany is anything to go by.

What was supposed to be an intriguing semi-final battle between the tournament’s brightest lights ended in a one-sided masterclass from Rui Jorge’s side at the Ander Stadium, in Olomouc, Czech Republic, yesterday.

Boasting a three-goal advantage by half-time, Portugal showed little let-up and bounded into their second ever Under-21s final with a 5-0 win as Germany fell to their heaviest ever competitive defeat at this age group.

The current Portuguese crop certainly look well-placed to go one better than the class of 1994 in Tuesday’s Prague finale, where Sweden or Denmark nervously await.

Jorge’s side had already hit the post by the time Bernardo Silva rifled home the opener with Ricardo and Ivan Cavaleiro adding gloss to the Group B winners’ half-time advantage.

Joao Mario added another seconds after the restart and Ricardo Horta grabbed the fifth as Germany’s hopes of a second European Under-21 crown in six years went up in smoke, making England’s 1-0 defeat to the Portuguese look a whole lot more respectable.

Leonardo Bittencourt ensured things would get worse for Horst Hrubesch’s side, with the substitute foolishly collecting two bookings within 15 minutes of his introduction – although the damage by that point had been done.