The Blues' Hopes Hit by Defeat at Atalanta
Key Moments
- Joao Pedro hands Chelsea the lead in the first half.
- Atalanta the stronger side after the break and equalise through the striker.
- Charles de Ketelaere scores a late winner for the home side.
- Loss means Chelsea slide to eleventh place in the league phase of the Champions League.
- The leading eight teams qualify automatically for the last 16.
The London club's ambitions of qualifying automatically for the Champions League knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to win in Bergamo.
Each club entered this game with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this year's competition, having secured three victories, drawn, and lost to be on ten points.
For much of the game there was little to distinguish them in this encounter too, although Chelsea took the lead in the first half when Joao Pedro finished Reece James' cross.
But Atalanta remained a threat going forward, with ex- Charlton and Everton attacker causing issues for the backline.
Reece James shot wide in the second half but Atalanta upped the intensity and deservedly drew level when ex-West Ham striker nodded home a cross.
The winger drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta secured the decisive strike late on when the Blues defence backed off the midfielder, who took full advantage with a driven strike.
Chelsea attempted to rescue a draw late on but a excellent save by Marco Carnesecchi denied Pedro.
The outcome means Chelsea slip out of the top eight—the positions that qualify automatically for the next round—to 11th with two league phase games left to play.
The Bergamo club, meanwhile, climb up to third, three points clear of the Londoners.
Chelsea Analysis - Worrying Run Persists
This was a extremely frustrating outcome for Chelsea as even a point was keeping them well placed to achieve the top-eight finish they require to bypass the lottery of the qualifying play-off round.
But they lacked concentration in defence with seven minutes remaining and Atalanta took full advantage.
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 disappointed to be departing with nothing after taking the early advantage.
But the wider issue is that this continues Chelsea's worrying run of form in all tournaments.
Since beating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four outings.
Excessive Rotations Proving Expensive?
Chelsea boss Maresca made five alterations for this match as he persisted with his strategy of moving players in and out of the first team.
The rotations here followed after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.
The coach will see rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' fitness and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the central contingent 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 Hotspur, Barcelona, and Arsenal," he commented.
"If you see the five changes that we did relative to the previous game it may be different but it is the same eight or nine players who played Barcelona.
"The ones who took to the field tonight are the ones playing almost all the games."
What Next for These Sides?
Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them welcome Pafos on Wednesday, 21 January (8pm GMT).
The Italian team, on the other hand, are at home to Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.
