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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this game with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a driven finish.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase games left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight finish they need to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the lead.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view squad rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the central contingent of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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