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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to triumph in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this match with matching records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For extended periods there was little to choose between them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team increased the intensity and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

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

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a hugely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to secure the top eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta seized the moment.

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

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

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.

Excessive Changes Proving Costly?

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

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

The coach will view squad rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the key nucleus of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to Bournemouth it may be a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What's Next for These Clubs?

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

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