The Blues' Automatic Qualification Ambitions Dealt a Blow by Defeat at Atalanta
Match Summary
- The Chelsea forward gives Chelsea the lead in the first half.
- The Italian outfit the better side after the interval and draw level through the striker.
- The Belgian attacker scores a late winner for the hosts.
- Loss means Chelsea fall to eleventh place in the group stage of the tournament.
- The leading eight teams progress automatically for the knockout phase.
The London club's hopes of securing a place automatically for the European Cup knockouts were suffered a setback as Atalanta came from behind to win in Bergamo.
The two teams entered this fixture with the same records in the league phase of this year's competition, having won, tied one, and lost to sit on 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 finished Reece James' cross.
But The Serie A side always looked a threat going forward, with former Premier League attacker causing problems for the defence.
Reece James fired wide in the after the break but Atalanta upped the pressure and rightfully levelled when ex-West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca a centering pass.
Alejandro Garnacho drove a strong effort straight at the keeper but Atalanta got the decisive strike in the closing stages when the Chelsea defenders retreated from the midfielder, who made no mistake with a powerful strike.
The visitors tried to salvage a draw in stoppage time but a superb stop by the Atalanta goalkeeper denied Joao Pedro.
The result means Chelsea drop out of the automatic qualification places—the spots that qualify automatically for the knockouts—to 11th with two league phase matches remaining.
Atalanta, meanwhile, jump up to third place, three points clear of the Londoners.
Chelsea Analysis - Concerning Form Persists
This was a hugely frustrating result for Chelsea as even a point was leaving them in a strong position to achieve the top eight position they need to avoid the uncertainty of the play-offs.
But they lacked concentration in their defensive duties with seven minutes left on the clock and their opponents seized the moment.
The Italian side are in rich vein of form at the moment so this was always going to be a difficult test for the visitors, but they will be annoyed to be departing with nothing after securing the lead.
But the broader context is that this extends Chelsea's worrying sequence of results in all competitions.
Since defeating Barcelona 3-0 at the end of November they are now winless in their last four games.
Excessive Changes Proving Costly?
Manager Enzo Enzo Maresca enacted five changes for this game as he persisted with his strategy of rotating players in and out of the starting 11.
The changes here came after he made the same number for the loss to Leeds United and six for the tie with Bournemouth prior to the trip to Bergamo.
Maresca will view rotation as necessary as he tries to manage players' minutes and challenge both at domestically and in Europe, but he insisted the key nucleus of players remains the unchanged for key fixtures.
"I believe tonight [in] the starting lineup we had eight or nine players who featured against Tottenham Hotspur, Barcelona, and the Gunners," he commented.
"If you look at the five alterations that we made compared to the previous game it is different but it involves the eight or nine players who played in that match.
"The players who took to the field tonight are the individuals playing almost all the matches."
Up Next for These Sides?
Chelsea's next Champions League fixture sees them host the Cypriot side on the coming Wednesday (8pm GMT).
The Italian team, on the other hand, host Athletic Bilbao at the identical kick-off time.
