Chelsea's Qualification Hopes Suffer a Setback by Loss at Bergamo

Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this match with identical points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a point late on but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage fixtures remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, jump up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's concerning streak of results in all competitions.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

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

Maresca will see rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to the previous game it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.