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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this fixture with identical points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian finished the captain's cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker causing issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta raised the intensity and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they scored the winner late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven finish.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage matches remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

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

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

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, 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.

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here came after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will view squad rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the same for crucial games.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

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

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Clubs?

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

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