Chelsea's Hopes Suffer a Setback by Defeat at Bergamo
Key Moments
- The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
- Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
- Charles de Ketelaere grabs a last-gasp winner for the home side.
- The defeat means Chelsea slide to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
- The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.
The London club's ambitions of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta came from behind to triumph in Bergamo.
The two teams went into this fixture with matching records in the initial stage of this year's tournament, having secured three victories, tied one, and suffered one defeat to be on ten points.
For much of the game there was not much to choose between them in this encounter too, even though Chelsea got their noses in front in the first half when Joao Pedro finished the captain's delivery.
But The Serie A side always looked a danger going forward, with former Premier League attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.
Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the pressure and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker nodded home a centering pass.
The winger hammered a powerful shot straight at the keeper but Atalanta scored the winning goal late on when the Blues defence backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who took full advantage with a driven finish.
The visitors attempted to salvage a draw late on but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.
The result means Chelsea drop out of the top eight—the spots that progress automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase matches left to play.
Atalanta, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points ahead of the Blues.
Blues Breakdown - Worrying Form Continues
This was a deeply disappointing outcome for Chelsea as even a draw was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight finish they need to avoid the lottery of the play-offs.
But they let their concentration slip in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta capitalised completely.
The Italians are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a challenging test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be leaving with nothing after taking the lead.
But the broader context is that this perpetuates Chelsea's worrying streak of results in all tournaments.
Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now winless in their last four outings.
Excessive Rotations Turning Out to Be Expensive?
Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this match as he persisted with his policy of rotating players in and out of the starting lineup.
The changes here followed after he implemented the same number for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.
The coach will view squad rotation as essential as he tries to manage players' workloads and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he stated the key nucleus of players stays the same for key fixtures.
"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who played against Tottenham, FC Barcelona, and the Gunners," he said.
"If you look at the five alterations that we did relative to the previous game it may be different but it involves the eight or nine players who played Barcelona.
"The players who took to the field this evening are the ones who feature in almost all the games."
What's Next for These Clubs?
The Blues' next Champions League game sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).
Atalanta, meanwhile, are at home to Athletic Club at the same time.
