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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this match with matching points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forward, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful finish.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw late on but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

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

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

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

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after taking the lead.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's troubling streak of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his run 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 United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

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

"The ones who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.