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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.

Each club entered this fixture with identical records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta consistently appeared a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and rightfully drew level when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw late on but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after taking the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this perpetuates Chelsea's troubling streak of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five rotations for this match as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will see rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we did compared to the previous game it may be a change but it is the eight or nine players playing in that match.

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

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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