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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For much of the game there was little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with former Premier League attacker causing issues for the defence.

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

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a brilliant stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage fixtures remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

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

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

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with nothing after taking the early advantage.

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

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The changes here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see rotation as necessary as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we made compared to Bournemouth it is a change but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.