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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this game with the same points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team raised the pressure and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, leap up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight finish they require to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians 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 annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning run of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this game as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

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

Maresca will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players stays the unchanged for crucial games.

"I believe tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he said.

"If you see the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next European game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.