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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better 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 slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this match with matching records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian turned in the captain's cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

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

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Persists

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

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

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with nothing after securing the lead.

But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's troubling run of form in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five changes for this game as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played this evening are the individuals playing almost all the games."

What's Next for These Teams?

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

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.