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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents fought back to win in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this fixture with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was not much to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta remained a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage games left to play.

Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

But the wider issue 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 without a win in their last four matches.

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for important fixtures.

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

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

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

What Next for These Clubs?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.