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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this fixture with matching records in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta remained a threat going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the pressure and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they got the winning goal in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a draw late on but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's concerning run of results in all competitions.

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four outings.

Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

The coach will view rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for crucial games.

"I believe tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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