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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this fixture with identical records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, tied one, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was little to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a danger going forwards, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but the home team increased the pressure and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

The visitors tried to salvage a point late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage games remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after taking the lead.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's worrying sequence of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

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

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

What's Next for These Clubs?

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

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