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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.

Each club went into this match with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For extended periods 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 converted Reece James' cross.

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

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team increased the intensity and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they got the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, leap up to third, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Continues

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's worrying sequence of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

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

The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will view rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players remains the same for important games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it may be a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.