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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 equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this fixture with identical records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For much of the game there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker causing issues for the defence.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winner late on when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low finish.

The visitors tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

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

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Continues

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

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

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I think in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you look at the five changes that we did relative to Bournemouth it is a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Clubs?

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

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