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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club went into this fixture with the same points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For large parts there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the pressure and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low strike.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw late on but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The changes here came after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will view rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

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

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

What's Next for These Sides?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.