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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this match with identical records in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going on the attack, with ex- Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a point late on but a superb stop 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 matches left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Continues

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

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

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the lead.

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning streak of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will see rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' fitness and compete both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

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

What's Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.