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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

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

Both sides entered this fixture with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having won, 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 took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the intensity and rightfully levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they got the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point late on but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, leap up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after taking the lead.

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

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the key nucleus of players remains the same for important fixtures.

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

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

"The players who took to the field this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.