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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this match with identical records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For extended periods there was little to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta remained a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team upped the pressure and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defenders retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a point late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a hugely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italian side are in rich vein of 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 nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying sequence of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will view squad rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' minutes and compete both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players stays the unchanged for important games.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

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

"The players who played tonight are the ones playing almost all the games."

What's Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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