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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to claim victory in Bergamo.

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

For extended periods there was not much to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian turned in the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side remained a threat going forwards, with former Premier League attacker causing issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but the home team increased the intensity and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Form Persists

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after taking the lead.

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

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

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

The changes 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 rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for key fixtures.

"I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

"If you look at the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

Up Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European game sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.