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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this fixture with the same records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side remained a threat going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the defence.

James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the intensity and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a powerful strike.

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

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

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Persists

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's troubling 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 outings.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The changes here came 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.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' fitness and challenge both at home and abroad, but he insisted the core group of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be different but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What Next for These Teams?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the same time.