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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

Each club went into this fixture with the same records in the league phase of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winner late on when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

The visitors attempted to rescue a point late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Persists

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight position they require to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

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

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying run of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view squad rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and abroad, but he insisted the key nucleus of players remains the same for key games.

"I think in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you see the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who played tonight are the ones playing almost all the games."

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

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