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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to win in their home stadium.

Each club entered this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to be on ten 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 cross.

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

James shot wide in the second half but the home team upped the intensity and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a excellent stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage games remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italians are in rich vein of 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 nothing after taking the lead.

But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's troubling sequence of form 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 Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here followed after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' fitness and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the key nucleus of players remains the same for key fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it is different but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the same time.