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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this match with identical records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian finished Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the intensity and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a driven strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a point in stoppage time but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Continues

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to secure the top eight position they require to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after securing the lead.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's worrying sequence of results in all competitions.

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

Too Many Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this match as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will view squad rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' fitness and compete both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the key nucleus of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

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

"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

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