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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this game with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but the home team upped the pressure and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a point late on but a excellent stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage fixtures remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, leap up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

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

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's worrying streak of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will see rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' workloads and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players stays the same for important games.

"I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he said.

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The ones who played this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Clubs?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.