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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta overturned a deficit to claim victory in their home stadium.

Each club went into this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was not much to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven strike.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point late on but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures remaining.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they need to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after securing the lead.

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

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five rotations for this match as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the same for key fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.