🔗 Share this article The Blues' Qualification Hopes Hit by Loss at Bergamo The hosts have won four of their past five games in all competitions. At a Glance Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the first half. The Italian outfit the better side after the break and draw level through Gianluca Scamacca. Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side. The defeat means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the group stage of the Champions League. The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockouts. The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were dealt a blow as Atalanta overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium. Both sides went into this match with matching points tallies in the league phase of this season's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on 10 points. For much of the game there was very little to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea got their noses in front in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted Reece James' delivery. But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going forward, with ex- Premier League attacker creating problems for the backline. James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta increased the pressure and justly drew level when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass. The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they secured the winning goal in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a driven finish. The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro. The final score means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase fixtures left to play. The Bergamo club, in contrast, jump up to third, three points ahead of the Londoners. Blues Breakdown - Concerning Run Continues This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to secure the top-eight position they need to bypass the uncertainty of the play-offs. But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment. The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be frustrated to be departing with nothing after securing the lead. But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's troubling sequence of form in all competitions. Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four outings. Too Many Changes Proving Costly? Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this game as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11. The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo. Maresca will see squad rotation as vital as he attempts to manage players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players remains the same for crucial games. "I think tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated. "If you see the five alterations that we did relative to Bournemouth it is different but it is the eight or nine players who played Barcelona. "The players who took to the field this evening are the individuals playing almost all the matches." What Next for These Sides? Chelsea's next European game sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT). Atalanta, meanwhile, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.