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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

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

Each club entered this game with matching records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was little to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta remained a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and rightfully equalised when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winner late on when the Blues defenders retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw late on but a brilliant save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase fixtures left to play.

Atalanta, in contrast, leap up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

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

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties 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 challenging test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the lead.

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

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four games.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

Maresca will see squad rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did compared to the previous game it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the games."

What Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.