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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents fought back to win in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with matching records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was little to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian converted Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and rightfully equalised when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a driven strike.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw late on but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Continues

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

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

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

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

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the first team.

The changes here came after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the key nucleus of players remains the same for key fixtures.

"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you see the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What's Next for These Sides?

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.