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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this match with the same records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, tied one, and lost to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the pressure and justly drew level when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the winning goal late on when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a driven strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw late on but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall 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, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a hugely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with nothing after taking the lead.

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

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at home and abroad, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for key fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup 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 different but it involves the eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the games."

What's Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.