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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• 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 progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta fought back to win in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the pressure and justly levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a powerful shot.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb 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 league phase matches remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Continues

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

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

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

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this match as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The changes here followed after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players remains the same for key games.

"I believe in this match [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 Bournemouth it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Sides?

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.