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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in Bergamo.

Each club went into this fixture with identical records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For much of the game there was very little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forward, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team upped the intensity and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful finish.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase matches remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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 visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's worrying streak of form in all competitions.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for key games.

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

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

"The ones who played this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.