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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was not much to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's cross.

But Atalanta always looked a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful finish.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase fixtures remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence 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 visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's worrying streak of form in all tournaments.

Since defeating 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 Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What's Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.