🔗 Share this article

Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Each club went into this match with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For large parts there was very little to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forwards, with former Premier League attacker causing problems for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a powerful finish.

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

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase matches left to play.

Atalanta, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Continues

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight finish they require to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italian side 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 taking the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's worrying run of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

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

The changes here came after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

The coach will see rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the games."

What's Next for These Clubs?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.