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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this fixture with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted Reece James' delivery.

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

Reece James shot wide in the second half but the home team upped the pressure and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they scored the winner late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven strike.

Chelsea tried to salvage a point late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Persists

This was a hugely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to secure the top eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after taking the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning run 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 Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

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

Maresca will see rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

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

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.