🔗 Share this article

Match Summary

• 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 decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in their home stadium.

The two teams went into this game with identical records in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on 10 points.

For large parts there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the backline.

James shot wide in the after the break but the home team raised the pressure and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low strike.

The visitors attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a excellent stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Joao Pedro.

The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage matches remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Continues

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

But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents capitalised completely.

The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with nothing after securing the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this extends Chelsea's worrying streak 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 outings.

Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five changes for this match as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The rotations here came after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

The coach will view rotation as essential as he tries to handle players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players stays the unchanged for crucial fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we did compared to Bournemouth it may be different but it is the eight or nine players who played in that match.

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

Up Next for These Sides?

The Blues' next European game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.