🔗 Share this article

Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to win in their home stadium.

Each club entered this game with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For extended periods there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low finish.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Form Persists

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

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's troubling streak of results in all tournaments.

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four outings.

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view squad rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the same for important games.

"I think in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to Bournemouth it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the ones playing almost all the games."

What Next for These Teams?

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

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