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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in Bergamo.

Each club went into this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta always looked a danger going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and justly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low shot.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage fixtures remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' minutes and compete both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players stays the same for key games.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he said.

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to Bournemouth it is different but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who took to the field this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.