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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta fought back to win in their home stadium.

Each club went into this match with matching records in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For extended periods there was little to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian finished Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a threat going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the intensity and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winning goal late on when the Blues defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful shot.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's troubling sequence of form in all tournaments.

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the end of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will see rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for crucial games.

"I believe in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to Bournemouth it is different but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the games."

Up Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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