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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

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

Each club went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For much of the game there was very little to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted the captain's cross.

But Atalanta remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team raised the intensity and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful finish.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point late on but a brilliant save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Continues

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight finish they require to avoid the lottery 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 good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

Since defeating Barcelona 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 alterations for this game as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' minutes and compete both at home and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

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

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

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.