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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game 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 Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a powerful shot.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Continues

This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in defence 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 test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

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

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

Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for important games.

"I think in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he said.

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth it is different but it is the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

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