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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in their home stadium.

Each club entered this fixture with identical records in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the winner late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a driven finish.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after taking the lead.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's worrying sequence of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

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

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it is different 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."

Up Next for These Teams?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.