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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

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

Both sides went into this match with matching points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For extended periods there was very little to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

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

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

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

Atalanta, in contrast, leap up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

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

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's troubling sequence of form in all competitions.

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

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

The coach will view rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players remains the same for crucial fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

What Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.