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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp winner 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 hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents fought back to win in Bergamo.

The two teams entered this fixture with identical records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points.

For extended periods there was not much to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian turned in the captain's cross.

But Atalanta remained a danger going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.

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

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta scored the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low finish.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage fixtures left to play.

The Bergamo club, in contrast, leap up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Persists

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight finish they need to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in their defensive duties with seven minutes remaining and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.

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

Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.

Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?

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

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

Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players stays the same for important games.

"I think tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he said.

"If you look at the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players playing in that match.

"The players who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."

What Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European game sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.