Match Summary
Chelsea's chances of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were hit hard as Atalanta fought back to claim victory in Bergamo.
The two teams went into this match with identical points tallies in the initial stage of this season's competition, having won, drawn, and lost to have accrued ten points.
For large parts there was very little to distinguish them in this contest too, although Chelsea went ahead in the first half when the Brazilian turned in Reece James' cross.
But The Serie A side consistently appeared a threat going on the attack, with former Charlton and Everton attacker Ademola Lookman problems for the backline.
James fired wide in the second half but the home team increased the pressure and rightfully equalised when former West Ham United striker headed in a cross.
The winger drove a powerful shot straight at the keeper but they scored the decisive strike late on when the Blues defenders backed off Charles de Ketelaere, who made no mistake with a low strike.
The visitors tried to rescue a draw in stoppage time but a superb stop by Marco Carnesecchi kept out Joao Pedro.
The result means Chelsea fall out of the automatic qualification places—the positions that progress automatically for the next round—to eleventh with two league phase games left to play.
The Bergamo club, in contrast, climb up to third place, three points clear of the Blues.
This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top-eight finish they need to avoid the uncertainty of the qualifying play-off round.
But they lost focus in defence with seven minutes remaining and their opponents seized the moment.
The Italian side are in fine fettle at the moment so this was always going to be a tough examination for the Blues, but they will be disappointed to be leaving with no points after taking the early advantage.
But the bigger picture is that this continues Chelsea's troubling run of results in all tournaments.
Since defeating the Spanish giants 3-0 at the close of November they are now without a win in their last four matches.
Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca made five alterations for this game as he continued his strategy of rotating players in and out of the first team.
The changes here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds and six for the tie with AFC Bournemouth prior to the journey to Atalanta.
Maresca will view squad rotation as essential as he attempts to manage players' minutes and challenge both at home and abroad, but he maintained the key nucleus of players remains the same for key games.
"I believe tonight [in] the first XI we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he stated.
"If you look at the five changes that we made relative to Bournemouth it may be a change but it involves the eight or nine players playing Barcelona.
"The players who played this evening are the individuals who feature in almost all the matches."
The Blues' next European fixture sees them welcome Pafos on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).
Atalanta, on the other hand, host Athletic Club at the identical kick-off time.
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