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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this match with identical points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the pressure and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.

Atalanta, meanwhile, leap up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

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

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

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

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

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will see squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for key fixtures.

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

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

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the same time.