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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this game with the same records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten points.

For large parts there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian converted Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winner late on when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low finish.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to secure the top-eight finish they need to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's worrying streak of form in all tournaments.

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will view rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for key games.

"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.