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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents fought back to win in their home stadium.

Each club went into this fixture with matching records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For much of the game there was little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished the captain's cross.

But Atalanta remained a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low shot.

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

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase games left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight finish they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's concerning run of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the first team.

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

The coach will see squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players remains the same for key games.

"I think in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you see the five changes that we made relative to Bournemouth it is different but it is the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.