🔗 Share this article Chelsea's Automatic Qualification Ambitions Suffer a Setback by Reverse at Bergamo Atalanta have secured victory in four of their past five games in all competitions. Match Summary Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the opening period. The Italian outfit the stronger side after the interval and draw level through the striker. Charles de Ketelaere nets a last-gasp winner for the home side. Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the Champions League. The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16. The London club's hopes of qualifying automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as their Italian opponents overturned a deficit to triumph in Bergamo. The two teams went into this fixture with matching points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to have accrued ten points. For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when Joao Pedro converted the captain's cross. But Atalanta remained a danger going on the attack, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker creating problems for the defence. Reece James fired wide in the second half but the home team upped the intensity and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker headed in a cross. The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but they got the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders backed off the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low finish. The visitors attempted to salvage a point late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro. The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two group stage games remaining. The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points ahead of the Blues. Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Run Persists This was a deeply disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them well placed to secure the top eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the play-offs. But they let their concentration slip in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and Atalanta seized the moment. The Italian side are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult examination for the Blues, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after securing the lead. But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying streak of results in all tournaments. Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four matches. Excessive Changes Turning Out to Be Expensive? Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his policy of moving players in and out of the first team. The rotations here came after he implemented the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta. Maresca will see rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' fitness and compete both at domestically and in Europe, but he maintained the core group of players stays the same for important games. "I think tonight [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 changes that we did relative to Bournemouth it may be a change but it is the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona. "The ones who took to the field this evening are the individuals playing almost all the games." What's Next for These Sides? The Blues' next European fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT). The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.