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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, drawn, and lost to sit on ten points.

For large parts there was little to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going on the attack, with ex- Premier League attacker causing problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team raised the intensity and rightfully levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven shot.

The visitors attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a brilliant save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

Atalanta, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Persists

This was a hugely disappointing 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 uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after securing the lead.

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

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

Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this match as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The changes here followed after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' minutes and compete both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

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