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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this fixture with matching records in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian finished Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta remained a threat going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team raised the intensity and justly drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a low shot.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase matches remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying 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 matches.

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed 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.

Maresca will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the core group of players remains the unchanged for key games.

"I think in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he said.

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to the previous game it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.