Chelsea may be celebrating a major future signing off the field, but their evening in Italy ended in disappointment after a 2-1 defeat to Atalanta in the Champions League. Joao Pedro’s first-half strike gave them a deserved lead on Tuesday night, but a flat second-half showing proved costly as Gianluca Scamacca and Charles De Ketelaere turned the match on its head. For manager Enzo Maresca, the defeat was particularly painful, coming on his return to Italy. Chelsea, who produced a blistering display to dismantle Barcelona in their previous Champions League outing, looked well placed to back it up before their intensity faded dramatically in Bergamo.
The aftermath carried its own drama. De Ketelaere could not resist aiming a playful jab at Chelsea winger Alejandro Garnacho, who had admitted before the match that he "hadn’t watched much of Atalanta recently." Speaking to Sky Italia, De Ketelaere smirked: "Now he knows who we are. For us, it's not possible to play games like Saturday's against Verona and then maybe win a match like today. We need to improve our consistency. We were coming off three wins and then there was this bad defeat, but we know we have great quality, and we proved it today."
There is little time for Chelsea to dwell on the loss. They host Everton on Saturday before travelling to Cardiff City in the Carabao Cup, followed by a daunting Premier League run featuring Newcastle, Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Manchester City.