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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this match with the same records in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was little to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian finished the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker creating issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a powerful strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they need to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the lead.

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

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the end of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five rotations for this match as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

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

Maresca will view squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' fitness and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Clubs?

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.