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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this game with the same records in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For extended periods there was very little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but the home team raised the intensity and rightfully levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they got the winning goal in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a driven strike.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a point late on but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.

Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Continues

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with nothing after taking the early advantage.

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

Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four games.

Too Many Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this match as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players stays the same for crucial fixtures.

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

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

"The players who played tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European game sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

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