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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this match with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was not much to distinguish 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 consistently appeared a danger going forward, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team raised the pressure and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a powerful shot.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, leap up to third, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's worrying run of results in all tournaments.

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.

Too Many Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

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

Maresca will see squad rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' fitness and compete both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I think in this match [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 same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the games."

What Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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