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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta fought back to triumph in Bergamo.

Each club went into this match with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For extended periods there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

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

Atalanta, in contrast, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

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

But they lost focus in their defensive duties 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 difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's concerning run of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

The coach will view rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' fitness and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be different but it is the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.