The Blues' Hopes Hit by Reverse at Bergamo

At a Glance

• Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca.
• The Belgian attacker scores a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
• Loss means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in Bergamo.

Both sides entered this game with identical records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten points.

For extended periods there was little to distinguish them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea took the lead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro turned in the captain's cross.

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

Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.

The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence retreated from the midfielder, who took full advantage with a low strike.

The visitors attempted to rescue a point late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The final score means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two league phase matches left to play.

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

Blues Breakdown - Concerning Sequence Persists

This was a hugely disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.

The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.

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

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

Too Many Changes Proving Costly?

Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he persisted with his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The rotations here followed after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.

The coach will see rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' fitness and compete both at domestically and abroad, but he insisted the key nucleus of players stays the same for key games.

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

"If you see the five alterations that we did relative to Bournemouth it may be different but it is the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

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

Up Next for These Clubs?

The Blues' next European game sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the same time.