🔗 Share this article

At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late decisive goal for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to win in Bergamo.

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

For extended periods there was very little to separate them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian finished Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta always looked a danger going forward, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the defence.

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

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they got the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven strike.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage fixtures remaining.

Atalanta, in contrast, jump up to third, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Persists

This was a extremely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top-eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's concerning sequence of results in all tournaments.

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

Excessive Changes Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here followed after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will view squad rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to Bournemouth it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the same time.