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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this match with identical records in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta remained a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the defence.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the intensity and rightfully equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw late on but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

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

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's troubling run of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

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

The changes here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

"I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you look at the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What Next for These Clubs?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.