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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

Each club went into this game with identical records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to sit on ten points.

For extended periods there was very little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the defence.

James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven finish.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Persists

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight finish they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's troubling sequence of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Changes Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five rotations for this game as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players remains the unchanged for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made compared to the previous game it may be a change but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next European game sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.