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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to win in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this game with identical records in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful finish.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point late on but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage games remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Continues

This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight position 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 capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for important games.

"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.

"If you look at the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it may be different but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who played this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

Up Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.