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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this game with the same records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team increased the pressure and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low finish.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw late on but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

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

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock 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 tough examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's troubling 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 matches.

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players remains the unchanged for key games.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it may be different but it is the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the games."

Up Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next European game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.