Chelsea's Qualification Hopes Hit by Reverse at Bergamo
Match Summary
- Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the advantage in the opening period.
- The Italian outfit the better side after the break and equalise through the striker.
- Charles de Ketelaere scores a last-gasp winner for the hosts.
- The defeat means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
- The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.
Chelsea's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents came from behind to claim victory in their home stadium.
Each club went into this fixture with identical records in the league phase of this season's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and lost to have accrued 10 points.
For large parts there was little to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian converted the captain's delivery.
But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going forwards, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the backline.
James fired wide in the after the break but the home team increased the pressure and rightfully drew level when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.
The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but they scored the winner late on when the Blues defenders retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low shot.
Chelsea tried to salvage a point late on but a superb save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Joao Pedro.
The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase games remaining.
The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points clear of the Blues.
Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Sequence Persists
This was a deeply frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to secure the top-eight finish they require to bypass the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.
But they lost focus in their defensive duties 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 challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be departing with nothing after taking the lead.
But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's worrying sequence of form in all competitions.
Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.
Too Many Rotations Proving Expensive?
Manager Enzo Maresca enacted five alterations for this match as he continued his run of moving players in and out of the first team.
The changes here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.
Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he stated the central contingent of players remains the unchanged for key games.
"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, FC Barcelona, and Arsenal," he stated.
"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to the previous game it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players playing Barcelona.
"The ones who played this evening are the ones playing almost all the matches."
Up Next for These Teams?
Chelsea's next Champions League game sees them welcome the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).
The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.
