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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club entered this match with the same points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the intensity and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winner late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low strike.

Chelsea tried to salvage a point in stoppage time but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a hugely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group of players remains the same for crucial fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it is the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."

What Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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