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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this game with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, tied one, and lost to be on 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but the home team increased the pressure and deservedly equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

The visitors tried to salvage a point late on but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after securing the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning run of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will view squad rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it involves the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the games."

What Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next European game sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.