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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Each club went into this game with identical points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, tied one, and lost to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was not much to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going on the attack, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the pressure and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven shot.

Chelsea tried to salvage a point late on but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Persists

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italian side are in fine fettle 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 taking the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five rotations for this match as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

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

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players stays the same for crucial fixtures.

"I think in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who took to the field this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

What Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.