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Match Summary

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

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with identical records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For much of the game there was little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a point late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Continues

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents took full advantage.

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 leaving with nothing after taking the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five rotations for this match as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.