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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this game with the same records in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was little to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side remained a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but the home team upped the pressure and justly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low finish.

Chelsea tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

Atalanta, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes left on the clock 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 difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's concerning 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 alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

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 Atalanta.

The coach will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and in Europe, but he stated the key nucleus of players stays the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

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

What's Next for These Teams?

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

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