UCL | Atalanta 2-1 Chelsea: De Ketelaere the comeback king

Ademola Lookman burst into the box and tested Robert Sanchez at the near post, with Charles De Ketelaere’s follow-up blocked from six yards.

Raoul Bellanova sprinted down the right and rolled across, only to go down in pain straight after that cross with a hamstring problem. He was distraught as he hobbled off to make way for ex-Chelsea man Davide Zappacosta.

Josh Acheampong made a decisive block from six yards on Lookman, then Gianluca Scamacca and Marten de Roon failed to turn in the rebound.

Chelsea had the ball in the net on 25 minutes and it was initially disallowed for the Reece James offside position rolling across from a corner for Joao Pedro to flick in at the near post from five yards, but VAR confirmed he was level.

James saw one attempt charged down by Berat Djimsiti and the follow-up drilled wide from the edge of the area, with De Ketelaere’s attempt blocked at the other end.

Lookman thought he had scored the equaliser on a Marten de Roon assist, but he was in an offside position.

Jamie Gittens stung Marco Carnesecchi’s gloves, but Atalanta got their equaliser when De Ketelaere ran down the right and stood up a cross with his weaker right foot for the Scamacca header at the back post.

Suddenly Atalanta were swarming all over Chelsea, Sanchez getting down for a tricky one-handed save on another Scamacca header.

La Dea turned the game around completely with De Ketelaere adding a goal to his assist. Nikola Krstovic took the free kick quickly and De Ketelaere surged down the right, his right-foot finish with a deflection off Malo Gusto surprising Sanchez at the near post. The Belgian now has six goals and seven assists in his last 12 Champions League appearances.

De Ketelaere also set up Krstovic to fire over from a tricky angle, but Carnesecchi made a decisive save with the last kick of the game when Acheampong knocked down a cross at the by-line for Joao Pedro’s volley.

Atalanta 2-1 Chelsea

Joao Pedro 25 (C), Scamacca 55 (A), De Ketelaere 83 (A)

09-12-2025 20:00 MatchDay 6 Gewiss Stadium (Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia)

Atalanta

Chelsea 2 - 1

Player statistic

1st half

		25'		João Pedro (Assist: Reece James)
		29'

Trevoh Chalobah 2nd half

Gianluca Scamacca (Assist: Charles De Ketelaere)		55'
Charles De Ketelaere (Assist: Marten de Roon)

83'    

Match statistic

49 Possession % 51 13 Total shots 10 4 Shots on target 5 3 Shots off target 4 6 Blocked shots 1 2 Corners 5 4 Offsides 2 6 Fouls 14 Atalanta Chelsea

Starting lineups

29

Marco Carnesecchi Goalkeeper 19

Berat Djimsiti Defender 47 Lorenzo Bernasconi Defender 3

Odilon Kossounou Defender 16

Raoul Bellanova Defender 17' 23

Sead Kolasinac Defender 71' 13

Éderson Midfielder 87' 15

Marten de Roon Midfielder 11

Ademola Lookman Attacker 87' 17

Charles De Ketelaere Attacker 9

Gianluca Scamacca Attacker 72' 1

Robert Sánchez Goalkeeper 5

Benoît Badiashile Defender 34

Josh Acheampong Defender 3

Marc Cucurella Defender 24

Reece James Defender 23

Trevoh Chalobah Defender 46' 8

Enzo Fernández Midfielder 67' 25

Moisés Caicedo Midfielder 11 Jamie Gittens Attacker 20

João Pedro Attacker 7

Pedro Neto Attacker

66'

Substitutes

59

Nicola Zalewski Midfielder 70 Daniel Maldini Midfielder 10

Lazar Samardžić Midfielder 57

Marco Sportiello Goalkeeper 42

Giorgio Scalvini Defender 44

Marco Brescianini Midfielder 4 Isak Hien Defender 77

Davide Zappacosta Defender 17' 69 Honest Ahanor Defender 71' 90

Nikola Krstovic Attacker 72' 8

Mario Pasalic Midfielder 87' 6

Yunus Musah Midfielder 87' 12

Filip Jörgensen Goalkeeper 21 Jorrel Hato Defender 41

Facundo Buonanotte Midfielder 38

Marc Guiu Attacker 32

Tyrique George Attacker 50 Max Merrick Goalkeeper 40

Estevão Attacker 17

Andrey Santos Midfielder 49

Alejandro Garnacho Attacker 66' 27

Malo Gusto Defender 67' 29

Wesley Fofana Defender 4

Tosin Adarabioyo Defender

76'