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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this match with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was little to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but the home team raised the pressure and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Form Persists

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

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

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after taking the lead.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's troubling streak of form in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes for this match as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

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

The coach will see rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it may be different but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Teams?

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.