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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides went into this game with matching records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

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

But Atalanta remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a driven finish.

The visitors tried to salvage a point in stoppage time but a excellent stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, leap up to third, three points ahead of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

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

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's concerning run of form in all competitions.

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

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here followed after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for key games.

"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you look at the five changes that we did relative to Bournemouth it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.