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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight qualify automatically for the last 16.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph 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 not much to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's cross.

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

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team raised the intensity and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games left to play.

Atalanta, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

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

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's concerning streak of results in all tournaments.

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four matches.

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he persisted with his policy of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will view squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' workloads and compete both at home and in Europe, but he insisted the core group of players remains the same for crucial games.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we made compared to Bournemouth it may be a change but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

Up Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.