🔗 Share this article

Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this fixture with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten points.

For extended periods there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's cross.

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

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low shot.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage fixtures left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes left on the clock 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 visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view squad rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for key fixtures.

"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he said.

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

"The ones who played this evening are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Teams?

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

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.