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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this match with the same records in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For large parts there was very little to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta remained a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker causing issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winning goal in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

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

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

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

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.