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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this game with identical records in the league phase of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forward, with former Premier League attacker causing issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the pressure and justly drew level when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winner late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low strike.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

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

The Bergamo club, in contrast, leap up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to secure the top eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

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

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning run of form in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here came after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will see rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained 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 played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

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

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

What Next for These Teams?

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

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.