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At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker scores a late decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.

The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Each club went into this match with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was little to separate them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the backline.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a powerful strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.

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

Atalanta, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Form Continues

This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw 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 let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.

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 departing with nothing after securing the early advantage.

But the wider issue is that this perpetuates Chelsea's troubling run of form in all tournaments.

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

Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made 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 identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' fitness and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players remains the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

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

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

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.