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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to win in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this fixture with the same points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For much of the game there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's delivery.

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

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and rightfully drew level when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a powerful shot.

The visitors tried to salvage a draw late on but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase games remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to secure the top-eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's worrying streak of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five changes for this match as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

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

Maresca will view rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players remains the same for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next European game sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.