How Chelsea can qualify automatically for Champions League knockout stages after Atalanta loss

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Evening Standard

·10 de dezembro de 2025

How Chelsea can qualify automatically for Champions League knockout stages after Atalanta loss

Blues face Pafos and Napoli in their remaining league phase matches

Chelsea’s hopes of a top-eight finish in the league phase were damaged on Tuesday night

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Chelsea suffered a setback in their hopes of sealing a top-eight Champions League finish after losing to Atalanta on Tuesday night.

Joao Pedro put the Blues ahead midway through the first half in Bergamo, sliding in to get on the end of a cross from Reece James for his first ever Champions League goal.

The Brazil international’s celebrations were initially cut short when the flag was raised for offside, but the goal was allowed to stand after a lenghty VAR check.

Chelsea had chances to extend their lead, though were ultimately made to rue not scoring a second as former West Ham striker Gianluca Scamacca and Charles De Ketelaere completed the comeback to send La Dea up to third in the 36-team Champions League table.

It is now four games without a win for the Blues across all competitions and defeat in Bergamo has severely damaged their chances of finishing in the top eight of this season’s Champions League league phase.

In fact, the result sees Chelsea slip out of the automatic qualification places, trailing Premier League rivals Liverpool by two points with only a couple of league phase matches remaining.

In the new year the Blues welcome Pafos to Stamford Bridge before finishing up with a tough trip to Naples to face Antonio Conte's Napoli.

Of course, the luxury a top-eight finish brings is automatic qualification to the last 16 as well as avoiding two extra games in the play-off round for the knockout stages.

As things currently stand, Enzo Maresca’s side are 11th but could slip further down the table depending on results elsewhere on Wednesday.

16 points could be enough for a top eight finish - as was the case for Bayer Leverkusen, Lille and Aston Villa last season - so Chelsea must beat Pafos and Napoli to have any chance of automatic qualification.