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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with matching records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to sit on ten points.

For large parts there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low strike.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's concerning run of form in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

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

The rotations here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' workloads and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players remains the same for important games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did relative to Bournemouth it is different but it is the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What Next for These Sides?

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

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