Chelsea's Automatic Qualification Ambitions Hit by Defeat at Atalanta
Key Moments
- Joao Pedro gives Chelsea the lead in the opening period.
- Atalanta the stronger side after the interval and equalise through Gianluca Scamacca.
- The Belgian attacker nets a last-gasp decisive goal for the hosts.
- Loss means Chelsea drop to 11th in the league phase of the tournament.
- The leading eight teams progress automatically for the last 16.
The London club's chances of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockout stages were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to win in Bergamo.
The two teams entered this game with the same points tallies in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, drawn, and suffered one defeat to sit on ten points.
For large parts there was very little to choose between them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the opening 45 minutes when the Brazilian turned in the captain's cross.
But The Serie A side remained a danger going forward, with former Premier League attacker creating issues for the defence.
Reece James shot wide in the after the break but the home team upped the intensity and deservedly levelled when former West Ham United striker Gianluca Scamacca a cross.
The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the goalkeeper but Atalanta secured the winner in the closing stages when the Chelsea defence retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a low strike.
The visitors tried to salvage a point late on but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Pedro.
The outcome means Chelsea fall out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two group stage matches remaining.
Atalanta, meanwhile, leap up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.
Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Sequence Persists
This was a hugely disappointing result for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them in a strong position to secure the top eight finish they require to avoid the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.
But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents took full advantage.
The Italians are in good form at the moment so this was always going to be a tough test for the visitors, but they will be disappointed to be departing with no points after securing the early advantage.
But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's troubling streak of results in all tournaments.
Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the end of November they are now without a win in their last four games.
Excessive Changes Proving Expensive?
Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five rotations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the starting 11.
The changes here followed after he made the identical amount for the defeat to Leeds United and six for the draw with AFC Bournemouth prior to the trip to Atalanta.
Maresca will view squad rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' minutes and compete both at home and abroad, but he stated the core group of players stays the unchanged for important games.
"I believe in this match [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 did relative to the previous game it may be different but it involves the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.
"The ones who played tonight are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."
What's Next for These Clubs?
Chelsea's next European fixture sees them host Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (20:00 GMT).
The Italian team, meanwhile, host Athletic Club at the same time.