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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

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

Both sides entered this match with identical points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For extended periods there was not much to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the defence.

James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and rightfully drew level when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a point in stoppage time but a brilliant save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, jump up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position 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 left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's concerning streak of form in all competitions.

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 Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this game as he continued his policy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will see rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' fitness and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for important fixtures.

"I believe tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it may be a change but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the ones playing almost all the games."

What's Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next European game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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