🔗 Share this article

At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a late decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall 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 European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this match with the same points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was little to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the second half but the home team upped the intensity and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a powerful finish.

The visitors 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 top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase fixtures left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, leap up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs.

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

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's concerning run of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

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

"I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you see the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played in that match.

"The ones who took to the field this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

Up Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next European game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.