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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to win in their home stadium.

Each club entered this match with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For much of the game there was very little to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker causing issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the intensity and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the winner late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low strike.

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

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

Atalanta, in contrast, leap up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after securing the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's concerning run of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued 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 and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' minutes and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players stays the same for crucial 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 see the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.