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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this game with the same records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to be on 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a threat going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the pressure and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low finish.

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

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage fixtures left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Persists

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to secure the top-eight position they require to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip 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 visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's troubling run of results in all competitions.

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four outings.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

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

The rotations here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the same for important games.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it may be different but it is the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.