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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For much of the game there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they got the winning goal in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase games remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Continues

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's worrying sequence 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.

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will see squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he stated the central contingent of players stays the same for key games.

"I think tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

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

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.