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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in their home stadium.

Each club went into this fixture with the same points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For much of the game there was very little to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro finished the captain's cross.

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

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team increased the pressure and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low shot.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point late on but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage matches remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

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 disappointed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying run of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his strategy 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 and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players remains the same for important games.

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

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

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

What's Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.