The Blues' Automatic Qualification Ambitions Dealt a Blow by Reverse at Atalanta

At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker nets a late winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this fixture with matching records in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For extended periods there was very little to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the winner late on when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a driven finish.

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

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase fixtures remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they require to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in good form 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 securing the early advantage.

But the broader context 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 without a win in their last four matches.

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his strategy 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 United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and abroad, but he insisted the key nucleus 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, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

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

What Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.