🔗 Share this article

Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this match with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to have accrued ten points.

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

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker causing problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the pressure and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winner late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a powerful shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, leap up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight position they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

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

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

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will see rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the same for crucial fixtures.

"I think tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it may be different but it involves the eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played 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 the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.