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Key Moments

• The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
• 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 home side.
• The defeat means Chelsea fall to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
• The top eight progress automatically for the knockout phase.

The London club's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.

Each club entered this game with the same points tallies in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on 10 points.

For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this contest too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian finished the captain's cross.

But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forwards, with ex- Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman issues for the defence.

James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and deservedly equalised when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.

The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the winning goal late on when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful shot.

The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.

The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to eleventh with two group stage games left to play.

The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.

Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Form Persists

This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to secure the top eight position they need to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta capitalised completely.

The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be leaving with no points after securing the early advantage.

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

Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four games.

Too Many Rotations Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five rotations for this game as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the first team.

The changes 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 Atalanta.

The coach will view squad rotation as vital as he tries to handle players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he stated the key nucleus of players remains the same for key fixtures.

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

"If you look at the five changes that we did relative to Bournemouth it is different but it is the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.

"The players who played tonight are the individuals playing almost all the games."

What's Next for These Teams?

The Blues' next Champions League game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.