Chelsea's Qualification Hopes Suffer a Setback by Loss at Bergamo

Match Summary

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
• The Italian outfit the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the league phase 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 suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Each club went into this fixture with the same records in the initial stage of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to sit on 10 points.

For much of the game there was little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian finished the captain's cross.

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

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and justly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they secured the winner in the closing stages when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a powerful finish.

Chelsea attempted to salvage a draw late on but a superb save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase fixtures remaining.

Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties 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 tough examination for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.

But the broader context is that this continues Chelsea's concerning sequence of form in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.

The coach will see squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent of players remains the same for important fixtures.

"I believe in this match [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 alterations that we did compared to Bournemouth it is a change but it involves the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the games."

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next European fixture sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.