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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this game with matching records in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' delivery.

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

Reece James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta raised the intensity and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven finish.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they require to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's troubling run of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players remains the same for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

What Next for These Sides?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.