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Key Moments

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

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 triumph in their home stadium.

Both sides entered this match with matching records in the league phase of this season's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points.

For much of the game there was little to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' delivery.

But Atalanta remained a threat going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the pressure and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the winning goal late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a driven strike.

Chelsea tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase matches remaining.

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

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a extremely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they require to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in defence 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 tough test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.

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

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the starting lineup.

The changes here followed after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' workloads and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

"If you see the five changes that we did compared to the previous game it is a change but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The ones who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the games."

What Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.