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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this match with matching records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For much of the game there was little to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a danger going forwards, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but the home team increased the pressure and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they secured the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, climb up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

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 disappointed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he stated the key nucleus of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.