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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten 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 the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta remained a threat going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Continues

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta 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 disappointed to be leaving with nothing after securing the early advantage.

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

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the end of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the first team.

The changes here came 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 Bergamo.

The coach will view squad rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged 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 said.

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

What's Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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