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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a last-gasp winner 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 ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this match with identical records in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to sit on ten points.

For extended periods there was very little to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the intensity and justly drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low shot.

The visitors attempted to rescue a point late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage fixtures left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

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

Maresca will see squad rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players remains the same for crucial fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to Bournemouth it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

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