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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this game with identical points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

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

James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the winner late on when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a driven strike.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage matches left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the key nucleus of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it is different but it involves the eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them host Pafos 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.