Chelsea's Hopes Dealt a Blow by Reverse at Bergamo

Match Summary

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.

Chelsea's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Each club entered this game with matching records in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the defence.

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the intensity and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the winner late on when the Chelsea defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a point late on but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight position they need to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.

The Italians are in rich vein of form 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 nothing after securing the lead.

But the wider issue is that this extends Chelsea's concerning sequence of results in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this match as he continued his strategy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the defeat 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 attempts to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for key fixtures.

"I think tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.

"If you see the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it is different but it is the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The players who took to the field this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

Up Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.