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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club entered this fixture with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to sit on ten points.

For large parts there was little to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's cross.

But Atalanta remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the pressure and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low shot.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, jump up to third, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

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

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after taking the lead.

But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying streak of results in all competitions.

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

"If you look at the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.