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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this game with matching records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' cross.

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

James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the pressure and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they got the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Persists

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

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

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

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

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

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

The rotations here came after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for key games.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.