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Key Moments

• 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 scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in their home stadium.

Each club entered this game with identical points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For extended periods there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a threat going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.

James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the intensity and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Form Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

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

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

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

Maresca will see rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it is different but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.