The Blues' Hopes Suffer a Setback by Loss at Bergamo

Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this fixture with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker causing problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team raised the intensity and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful finish.

The visitors attempted to rescue a draw late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase matches left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, leap up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Persists

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's worrying run of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the same for important games.

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

"If you see the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it is a change but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

What's Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.