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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to win in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this game with the same points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten points.

For much of the game there was not much to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the intensity and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winner late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a driven finish.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage games remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta took full advantage.

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

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.

Too Many Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The changes here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the key nucleus of players remains the same for key games.

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

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

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.