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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with the same records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, drawn, and lost to be on ten points.

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian converted Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta remained a threat going on the attack, with ex- Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the pressure and rightfully equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven shot.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

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

Atalanta, in contrast, climb up to third, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's troubling sequence of results 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 outings.

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

"I believe tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it is the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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