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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this game with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to sit on ten points.

For much of the game there was little to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side remained a threat going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker causing problems for the backline.

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

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures remaining.

Atalanta, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Continues

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

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

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

Maresca will see rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted 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 played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

"If you look at the five changes that we made compared to the previous game it may be a change but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

Up Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

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