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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in their home stadium.

Each club entered this fixture with the same records in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the defence.

James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and justly drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low shot.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase fixtures left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw 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 left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side 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 nothing after taking the lead.

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

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

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

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players stays the unchanged for key games.

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

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

"The players who took to the field tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

What Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.