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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this fixture with identical records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For extended periods there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they scored the winner late on when the Blues defenders retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase games left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving 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 let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

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

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Changes Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this game as he persisted with his run 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 United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will view rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' minutes and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

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

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

What Next for These Clubs?

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

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.