The opening 20 minutes were in keeping with Real Madrid’s underwhelming league phase so far, as the visitors were the better team and the reigning European champions failed to have a touch in the opposition’s box.
Thomas Letsch’s side’s dominance culminated in Oscar Gloukh going tantalisingly close to giving his team an unlikely lead, as the Israeli ended a rapid counter-attack by fizzing a strike just wide of Thibaut Courtois’ post.
As earnest and impressive as the Austrians were, the Spanish league leaders would show a ruthless efficiency in front of goal that would restore the natural order of things.
With their first shot on target, Los Blancos took the lead when Vinicius Junior’s wayward pass to Jude Bellingham meant that the Englishman could only stick out a leg and divert the ball into the path of Rodrygo, who side-footed a tidy finish into the back of the net from a wide angle.
Just 10 minutes later, Rodrygo bagged a second goal but in far more spectacular fashion, as he met a Bellingham backheel with an unstoppable curling effort from the corner of the penalty area that rifled past Salzburg goalkeeper Janis Blaswich.
While the hosts needed quality for their first two goals, their third was gifted to them just three minutes into the second half, as Blaswich unsuccessfully attempted to dribble round Kylian Mbappe, allowing the Frenchman to dispossess him and tap into an empty net.
Keeping up their 100 per cent hit rate, Vinicius crashed in a fourth goal with Madrid’s fourth shot on target, as the Brazilian raced onto a pinpoint Luka Modric through ball and buried his shot beyond Blaswich.
Having been beaten four times, Blaswich made his first save of the match with 15 minutes to go, as he excellently tipped over a fierce Brahim Diaz shot.
However, moments later order was restored as Madrid put together a flowing move that started with Courtois and ended with Vinicius dummying past a weary defender and slotting home to put a fitting end to a crisp passing sequence.
Having had nothing to show for their impressive start to the game, there was at least a fitting end for the away side, as Mads Bidstrup met a Amar Dedic cross and lashed in a fine consolation goal.
A sixth defeat of the campaign leaves Salzburg down in 34th, while Carlo Ancelotti’s men will prioritse keeping hold of a seeded position on matchday eight.