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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this fixture with the same records in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side remained a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker causing problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the pressure and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful shot.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase matches remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Persists

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they require to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning run of results in all tournaments.

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the first team.

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

The coach will see rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group of players remains the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it is different but it is the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.