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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere grabs a late winner for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this game with the same records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to have accrued 10 points.

For large parts there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta raised the pressure and justly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but they secured the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two group stage matches left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to secure the top eight position they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's troubling sequence of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating 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 tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will view squad rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' workloads and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the key nucleus of players remains the same for important fixtures.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to Bournemouth it is a change but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

What's Next for These Teams?

Chelsea's next European game sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

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