Bielsa was unflinching in his verdict on his own legacy, going further than most coaches would in the immediate aftermath of elimination.
"I wasn't able to maximize the potential of Uruguay's players," Bielsa said. "With (Fede) Valverde's substitution, I sought to have a stronger presence in attack.
"What I gave Uruguayan football is nothing because any contribution that a coach can make to a national team is futile if you don't have a positive outcome. If you ask me how they'll remember me, they'll remember me as someone who left nothing."
Despite the defeat, Bielsa argued the margin did not reflect the balance of the match.
"The match was quite even," he said. "We deserved a draw. We should have had a draw. Performance was not the issue."
Spain's goalscorer Álex Baena, the Atlético Madrid midfielder, reflected on a hard-fought win that secured top spot in the group and paid tribute to the weight of the moment.
"The truth is we knew it would be tough, that we were playing for first place and they were playing for their lives," Baena said. "Maybe it wasn't the same game as last time, but it was necessary to play like that. It's probably one of the most important goals of my career."
The result confirms Spain's progression as group winners, while Uruguay head home with Bielsa's damning words as the defining image of a tenure that ended without the positive outcome he set as his only meaningful benchmark.
Federico Valverde, the Real Madrid midfielder whom Bielsa introduced to try to change the game, was one of Uruguay's most influential figures across the tournament despite the elimination.