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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club entered this fixture with the same points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a powerful strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Persists

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning sequence of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

Maresca will see rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the same for important games.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it may be different but it involves the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.