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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

Each club entered this fixture with the same 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 very little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.

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

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a driven finish.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group 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, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he said.

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Teams?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.