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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's chances of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in their home stadium.

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

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the pressure and rightfully equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winner late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw late on but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase matches left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Persists

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

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock 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 examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's worrying sequence 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 outings.

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this match as he continued his policy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the central contingent of players remains the same for key games.

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

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

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

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

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