Chelsea's Qualification Hopes Hit by Reverse at Bergamo

At a Glance

• The Chelsea forward hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
• The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
• Charles de Ketelaere nets a late winner for the home side.
• Loss means Chelsea fall to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League.
• The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts.

The London club's chances of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were suffered a setback as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to win in Bergamo.

Each club entered this game with identical records in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to have accrued ten points.

For large parts there was little to separate them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro turned in Reece James' cross.

But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing problems for the backline.

Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta raised the intensity and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker nodded home a cross.

The winger drove a strong effort straight at the goalkeeper but they secured the winning goal late on when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a powerful finish.

The visitors attempted to salvage a draw late on but a excellent save by the Atalanta goalkeeper kept out Pedro.

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

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

Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Form Persists

This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they require to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.

But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties 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 difficult test for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.

But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's concerning sequence of results in all competitions.

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

Excessive Changes Proving Costly?

Chelsea boss Maresca enacted five changes for this match as he continued his run of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.

The changes here came after he implemented the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.

Maresca will see rotation as essential as he attempts to handle players' fitness and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players remains the same for important fixtures.

"I think in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.

"If you see the five alterations that we made relative to the previous game it is a change but it is the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.

"The ones who played tonight are the ones who feature in almost all the games."

What's Next for These Sides?

Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them host Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).

Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.