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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this fixture with matching records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was little to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the pressure and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven shot.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italian side 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 annoyed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's worrying run of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this match as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players stays the same for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

Up Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European game sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.