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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this fixture with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was very little to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the pressure and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winning goal in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Persists

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

But they lost focus 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 annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes for this match as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the core group of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I think in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he said.

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it is different but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the same time.