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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents fought back to win in Bergamo.

Each club went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was little to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the intensity and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven finish.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase matches left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' workloads and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.