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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

Each club entered this game with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was little to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the pressure and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a driven strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase fixtures remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Persists

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the end of November they are now without a win in their last four games.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here came after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the key nucleus of players remains the same for important games.

"I think tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to Bournemouth it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

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