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Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp 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 knockouts.

The London club's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents came from behind to triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides went into this game with matching points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For extended periods there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the second half but the home team upped the pressure and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they got the winner late on when the Blues defenders retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italians 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 securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's troubling run of results in all competitions.

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' fitness and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players stays the unchanged for key games.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it may be different but it involves the eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the matches."

What's Next for These Sides?

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

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.