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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in their home stadium.

Each club entered this game with identical records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker causing issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the winner late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage fixtures remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Continues

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

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's concerning run of form in all competitions.

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will see squad rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the central contingent of players remains the same for crucial fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made compared to the previous game it is a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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