With their elimination from the competition already confirmed, Salzburg appeared to have very little to play for here, and it showed in their performance as the visitors immediately assumed control.
Rodrigo De Paul fired an early sighter wide, but the visitors still needed less than five minutes to hit the front through manager Diego Simeone’s son, Giuliano.
Played in by compatriot Julian Alvarez, Simeone arrowed a finish into the bottom corner to set Atleti on their way to a fifth win from six attempts on the final matchday of a UCL group stage/league phase.
Los Colchoneros were in no mood to let that lead slip, continuing to dominate and doubling their advantage before the quarter-hour mark.
Simeone turned provider, dinking onrushing Salzburg goalkeeper Alexander Schlager and squaring for Antoine Griezmann to slam home at the back post.
The Frenchman found himself denied from close range by Schlager again before doubling his personal tally before the break, expertly slotting into the bottom corner after being played in by Samuel Lino to all but end the match as a contest.
Thomas Letsch’s men emerged a far more competitive outfit after the interval, though that could partly be attributed to Atleti taking their foot off the gas.
Simeone’s men were always a threat on the break, though, and they added a fourth just after the hour-mark when De Paul slotted Marcos Llorente in on the right to fire into the far corner.
Salzburg’s attention therefore turned to scoring a first goal on home soil in this league phase, which they notched from nowhere in the first minute of stoppage time,with Schlager’s searching long ball finding Adam Daghim in behind and allowing the forward to produce an audacious chip over Jan Oblak.
Something to cheer at last, but Salzburg still suffered a fourth successive UCL defeat by at least three goals as their European campaign ends with a whimper.
Rodrigo Riquelme threatened a fifth for Atleti in the closing stages, but they secured a fifth successive UCL win regardless, avoiding the play-offs and advancing directly to the last 16 thanks to a seventh successive win against Austrian opposition in Europe’s premier club competition.