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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this match with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker causing issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the pressure and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low finish.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage fixtures left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Continues

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's worrying streak of form in all competitions.

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four outings.

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' workloads and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for important fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he said.

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to the previous game it is different but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.