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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this match with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was little to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and justly levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winning goal in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point late on but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a extremely frustrating outcome 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 qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's concerning sequence 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 outings.

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes for this match as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will see rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the core group of players remains the same for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to the previous game it may be different but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

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