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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this match with the same records in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and rightfully levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven shot.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw late on but a excellent stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

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

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, leap up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after taking the early advantage.

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

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four games.

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five changes for this match as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' minutes and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the key nucleus of players remains the same for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the same time.