The Blues' Hopes Dealt a Blow by Reverse at Bergamo
Key Moments
- Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
- The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
- Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
- Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the group stage of the tournament.
- The top eight qualify automatically for the knockout phase.
The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were dealt a blow as their Italian opponents fought back to triumph in Bergamo.
Both sides went into this match with matching records in the initial stage of this season's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to be on 10 points.
For extended periods there was not much to separate them in this contest too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when the Brazilian finished the captain's cross.
But The Serie A side consistently appeared a danger going on the attack, with ex- Premier League attacker causing issues for the defence.
James fired wide in the second half but Atalanta increased the intensity and deservedly levelled when ex-West Ham striker headed in a centering pass.
Alejandro Garnacho hammered a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the winning goal late on when the Blues defenders backed off the midfielder, who seized the opportunity with a low shot.
Chelsea attempted to salvage a point in stoppage time but a excellent stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.
The result means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the spots that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase fixtures remaining.
The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.
Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Persists
This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight position they need to bypass the lottery of the play-offs.
But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta seized the moment.
The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be departing with no points after taking the early advantage.
But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's troubling sequence of results in all competitions.
Since beating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.
Too Many Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?
Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.
The rotations here followed after he made the identical amount for the loss to Leeds and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Bergamo.
The coach will see squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the core group of players remains the same for key fixtures.
"I think in this match [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.
"If you see the five changes that we made relative to Bournemouth it may be a change but it involves the eight or nine players who played in that match.
"The ones who took to the field this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."
What Next for These Teams?
Chelsea's next European game sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).
Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.
