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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

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

For extended periods there was little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the intensity and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low shot.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

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

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Continues

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's concerning streak of results in all tournaments.

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four games.

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

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

The rotations here came after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we did relative to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.