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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this match with the same records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to sit on ten points.

For extended periods there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta remained a threat going forward, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta raised the intensity and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Run Persists

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning streak of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five changes for this game as he continued his policy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' fitness and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for key games.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it may be different but it is the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.