The Blues' Qualification Hopes Hit by Loss at Bergamo

Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker grabs a late winner for the home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.

The two teams entered this match with identical points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian finished the captain's delivery.

But Atalanta always looked a threat going on the attack, with former Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and deservedly drew level when former West Ham United striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a brilliant stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

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

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to secure the top-eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.

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

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

Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.

Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the key nucleus of players stays the same for crucial fixtures.

"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

Up Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.