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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

Each club entered this fixture with identical points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with former Premier League attacker causing issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the pressure and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop 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, meanwhile, leap up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italians 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 frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's worrying run of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

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

The changes here came after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view squad rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for important games.

"I think tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.