Chelsea's Hopes Hit by Reverse at Bergamo
Key Moments
- Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the advantage in the first half.
- Atalanta the better side after the interval and equalise through the striker.
- Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp decisive goal for the home side.
- The defeat means Chelsea drop to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
- The top eight progress automatically for the knockouts.
Chelsea's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in their home stadium.
Both sides entered this game with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's tournament, having won, drawn, and lost to have accrued 10 points.
For extended periods there was not much to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross.
But The Serie A side always looked a danger going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker creating issues for the defence.
Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team increased the intensity and rightfully levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.
Alejandro Garnacho hammered a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta got the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from Charles de Ketelaere, who seized the opportunity with a low strike.
Chelsea tried to salvage a point late on but a brilliant save by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Pedro.
The final score means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage games left to play.
Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.
Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Continues
This was a extremely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them well placed to achieve the top-eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.
But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.
The Italians are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging examination for the Blues, but they will be frustrated to be departing 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 beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four games.
Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?
Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five changes 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 made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.
The coach will view rotation as necessary as he attempts to manage players' workloads and compete both at home and abroad, but he maintained the key nucleus of players stays the same for important games.
"I believe in this match [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.
"If you see the five alterations that we did compared to the previous game it is a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing in that match.
"The ones who took to the field this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."
Up Next for These Clubs?
The Blues' next European fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).
Atalanta, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Bilbao at the same time.
