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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this fixture with the same points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For much of the game there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro finished the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the pressure and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase games remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, leap up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Continues

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

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

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's concerning run of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' workloads and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players stays the unchanged for important games.

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

"If you see the five changes that we made compared to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

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

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