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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this match with the same points tallies in the league phase of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was little to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro finished the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta remained a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

Chelsea tried to salvage a draw late on but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

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

Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Continues

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

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

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

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

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will see rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players remains the unchanged for key games.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to Bournemouth it may be different but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

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