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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's chances of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this game with the same records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta remained a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker causing problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low finish.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, leap up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with nothing after taking the lead.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's troubling sequence of form in all competitions.

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

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he implemented 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 essential as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for important games.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made compared to Bournemouth it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

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