If the English set is "rock and roll", Jesse Marsch's Salzburg is pure "speed metal", as the Austrian team demonstrated with an impetuous performance that allowed them to make two dangerous approaches before the first three minutes of the game were up.
But if Salzburg bet on speed, Liverpool did not shy away from the duel, and with their usual intensity, they could open the scoring after four minutes with a shot by Egyptian Mohamed Salah, who beat his marker after a long pass from Croatian center-back Dejan Lovren.
The midfield quickly became a mere passing place for the constant attacks of both teams, who tried to reach the penalty area as quickly as possible.
This is where Liverpool and, above all, the trio of Egyptian Salah, Brazilian Roberto Firmino, and Senegalese Sadio Mane, feel most comfortable.
The attackers of the English team feel right at home moving at maximum speed, but they have nothing to envy the South Korean Hee-Chan Hwang, the Norwegian Erling Haaland, and the Japanese Takumi Minamino.
They showed it at seven minutes with an electrifying combination between the Japanese player, who surprised the defenders with a spectacular backheel, and the South Korean player, who was only denied a goal by a spectacular save from Liverpool's Brazilian goalkeeper Alisson.
A chance that was quickly responded to by Liverpool's Sadio Mane with a shot that tested the reflexes of Salzburg's goalkeeper Cican Stankovic.
Chances kept coming, reflected in the statistics that showed that both teams -six from Salzburg and five from Liverpool- had shot eleven times in the first twenty-five minutes of the game.
A reflection of the ambition and intensity of two of the most attractive, not to say the most entertaining, teams in the competition.
In fact, chances kept coming, but Alisson and Stankovic prevented Salzburg and Liverpool from scoring with their interventions.
Salzburg's goalkeeper was particularly inspired, as he prevented a goal from Guinean Naby Keita in the last minutes of the first half and then frustrated Salah's hopes of scoring at the beginning of the second half by snatching the ball from the Egyptian's feet in a one-on-one situation inside the penalty area.
However, Cican Stankovic could do nothing to prevent Keita from scoring, as he headed home a cross from Mane to make it 0-1 at 57 minutes. Mane took advantage of a spectacular cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold from one side to the other to enter Salzburg's penalty area.
A blow that seemed to stun the home team, as one minute later, Liverpool scored their second goal, courtesy of Mohamed Salah. Salah made up for his previous mistakes with a magnificent finish, almost from an impossible angle, as he outpaced Cameroonian defender Jerome Onguene after pressuring him relentlessly.
Two goals that ended any chances of Salzburg's qualification. The Austrian team crashed against the solidity and, above all, the striking power of a Liverpool, the reigning champion, who showed that they still have enough "rock and roll" in their veins to try to retain the throne they conquered last year in Madrid.