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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in Bergamo.

Each club entered this game with matching points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner late on when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven finish.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, leap up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Persists

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with nothing after securing the lead.

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's troubling run of form in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

Maresca will see rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players stays the same for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth it is different but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.