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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

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

The two teams entered this match with the same records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For much of the game there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful finish.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase fixtures left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Continues

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be 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 lineup.

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

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' fitness and compete both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players remains the unchanged for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

What Next for These Teams?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the same time.