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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.

Each club entered this match with matching records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was very little to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight finish 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 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 early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his strategy of rotating 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 tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

Maresca will see rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for key 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 stated.

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

"The ones who played 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 same time.