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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in Bergamo.

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

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian converted Reece James' cross.

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

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a brilliant 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 next round—to 11th with two league phase matches remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Persists

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

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

The coach will see squad rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' workloads and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for important games.

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

"If you see the five changes that we made relative to Bournemouth it may be different but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

What's Next for These Sides?

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

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