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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives 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 nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.

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

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Form Continues

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment.

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

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

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here followed after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for important games.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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