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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with the same records in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

James shot wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low shot.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Continues

This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight finish they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

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

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

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

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for crucial games.

"I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

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

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

What Next for These Sides?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.