🔗 Share this article

At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club went into this game with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team increased the pressure and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the winner late on when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

Chelsea tried to salvage a point late on but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip 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 examination for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with 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 and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip 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 insisted the key nucleus of players remains the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to Bournemouth it is a change but it is the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.