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At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• Atalanta the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
• The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to win in Bergamo.

The two teams went into this fixture with identical records in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.

For extended periods there was very little to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' delivery.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forward, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a centering pass.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low finish.

Chelsea attempted to rescue a point in stoppage time but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.

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

Blues Breakdown - Worrying Sequence Persists

This was a deeply frustrating result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.

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

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 Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive?

Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.

The changes 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 Bergamo.

Maresca will see rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players stays the unchanged for important games.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the games."

What Next for These Clubs?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.