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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 interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this match with the same points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian finished Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side remained a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the backline.

James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low strike.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's troubling run of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

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

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

The coach will see rotation as necessary as he attempts to handle players' minutes and compete both at home and abroad, but he insisted the central contingent of players remains the same for crucial fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we made compared to the previous game it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What's Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.