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Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to claim victory in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian converted Reece James' cross.

But Atalanta always looked a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but the home team raised the intensity and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a driven shot.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase games left to play.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Persists

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

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

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

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's troubling streak of results in all competitions.

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

Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five rotations for this match as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the first team.

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

The coach will see rotation as vital as he tries to manage players' workloads and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it is different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.