Football has produced some proper thrashings over the years.

Who could forget Brazil’s crushing 7-0 defeat to Germany on home soil at the 2014 World Cup?

Or more recently, Leicester’s 9-0 demolition of Southampton at St Mary's Stadium to equal the biggest winning margin in Premier League history?

In terms of all-time records, most fans would’ve heard of when Australia put 31 goals past American Samoa in a 2002 World Cup qualifier.

That still stands as the largest victory in an international fixture and is unlikely to surpassed anytime soon.

The most brutal of double-digit hammerings often raise the question: ‘Was is it really necessary?’

There are two contrasting views in that debate, and Italian youth club Invictasauro made their stance abundantly clear after beating Marina Calcio 27-0.

The losing side was suffering from an injury crisis and had to stick an outfield player in goal for the match, which saw two Invictasauro players score six goals each and one net seven.

However, instead of praising their manager Massimiliano Riccini, the Grosseto-based outfit opted to sack him for setting a bad example to the children.

“We were stunned and deeply regretful when hearing that our Juniores team had beaten Marina Calcio 27-0,” said President Paolo Brogelli in a statement, per Football Italia.

“The values of youth team football are antithetical to such a thing. The opponent must always be respected and that did not happen today.

“As President, I sincerely apologise to the Marina club. I announce that our directors decided, unanimously, to sack coach Riccini.

“Our coaches have the duty to train young players, but above all to educate them. That did not happen today.”

He might well be the first manager ever to lose his job off the back of picking up three points.

As crazy as that sounds, there doesn’t seem to be much to gain from instructing eleven kids to humiliate the opposition.

Sometimes one side is simply a class above the other, but surely there’s a point when the scoreline suggests enough is enough.