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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club entered this game with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten points.

For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Changes Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

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

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the core group of players stays the unchanged for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it is a change but it is the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the same time.