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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

Each club entered this game with the same records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For much of the game there was very little to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro finished the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the intensity and justly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they got the decisive strike late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's troubling sequence of form in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Changes Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five changes for this game as he persisted with his run of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

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

Maresca will see rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the key nucleus of players remains the same for key games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we made relative to Bournemouth it is different but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who played this evening are the individuals playing almost all the matches."

What Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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