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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this fixture with matching records in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.

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 second half but the home team raised the pressure and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a powerful finish.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

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 annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the lead.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's concerning streak of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players stays the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

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

"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.