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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with the same records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

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

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

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and justly equalised when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage fixtures remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

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

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

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

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' fitness and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I believe tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the individuals playing almost all the games."

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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