🔗 Share this article

Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to win in Bergamo.

Each club went into this fixture with matching records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and justly equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they require to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's worrying sequence of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will view 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 stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it is different but it is the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the individuals playing almost all the games."

What Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.