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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight 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 their Italian opponents fought back to win in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this fixture with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten points.

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low strike.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw late on but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to secure the top-eight position they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents capitalised completely.

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 frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes for this match as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for crucial fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC 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 eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the games."

What Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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