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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club went into this fixture with matching records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For extended periods there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta raised the intensity and justly drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Persists

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

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the lead.

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

Since beating 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 Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the same for crucial fixtures.

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

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

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

What's Next for These Teams?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.