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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this game with identical records in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker causing issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw late on but a excellent stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase games left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, jump up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta seized the moment.

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

But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's troubling sequence 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 matches.

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

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

Maresca will view rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' workloads and compete both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for important games.

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

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

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

What's Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.