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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta fought back to win in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta remained a threat going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw 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 lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after securing the early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this match as he continued his run of moving 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 draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for important fixtures.

"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 look at the five alterations that we made compared to Bournemouth it may be different but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

What Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.