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Preview: Chelsea visit Atalanta in the Champions League

Preview: Chelsea visit Atalanta in the Champions League

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Atalanta await as Chelsea travel to Italy for the first time in their 2025/26 Champions League campaign, as they seek to put a bad run of domestic form behind them and further cement their place in the top eight.

By Alex Roberts

La Dea have felt the departure of long-term coach Gian Piero Gasperini keenly (he is now at Roma), but their European form hasn’t been too bad. Atalanta sit level on points with Chelsea (10), having already beaten Club Brugge, Marseille, and Eintracht Frankfurt. Enzo Maresca shouldn’t underestimate them.

Love at first sight for Estêvão and the Champions League

His goal against Barcelona in Chelsea 3-0 win last time out made Estêvão just the third teenager to score in his first three consecutive Champions League appearances, alongside Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé. That’s some fine company to be keeping.

The Brazilian has taken to Europe’s premier club competition better than even he would have expected, and with an xG of 2.64, 14 attempts on goal, and a conversion rate of 21.43%, Estêvão is already Chelsea most important attacking threat.

Plenty can be said about how Maresca is performing so far this season, but one of the best things he’s done is manage Estêvão’s minutes perfectly. After coming off the bench in the 0-0 draw vs Bournemouth, we can expect the youngster to be unleashed here.

Ademola Lookman back to his best

It’s been an interesting couple of seasons for the ex-Everton, Fulham, and Leicester forward. Lookman was pushing for a move to Inter in the summer, and it’s taken him a little while to get going since the start of the season.

Now, with three goal contributions in his last five games across all competitions, Lookman is looking like the player we all know and love once again. His performance in the win over Frankfurt was arguably his best, bagging the opener and an assist for Ederson’s goal two minutes later.

Lookman absolutely has the ability to inflict some major damage on the competition’s big boys, and with a point to prove against one of the Premier League’s best, Chelsea will certainly need to be wary.

Team news

Moisés Caicedo has been a massive miss for Chelsea domestically after he just served the second of his three-game suspension after picking up a red card in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal, but he is available for this one.

Cole Palmer also made his long-awated first start since September in the 0-0 draw vs Bournemouth, and it’s fair to say he looked a little rusty. Chelsea have decided to leave him at home for this one as they stagger his return.

There was one major piece of bad news that came out of Chelsea’s draw over the weekend. Liam Delap is set to miss six-eight weeks, with a shoulder injury, joining Levi Colwill (knee), and Roméo Lavia (thigh).

Atalanta don’t have quite as many injury worries. Kamaldeen Sulemana (muscle) and Mitchel Bakker (knee) are both out. Manager Raffaele Palladino has decisions to make though, following their awful 3-1 defeat to Hellas Verona over the weekend.

Prediction

Neither side is in particularly good form at the moment, so we’re not expecting a night to remember. We’re going with a 1-1 draw in beautiful Bergamo. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.

Preview: Chelsea visit Atalanta in the Champions League

Atalanta await as Chelsea travel to Italy for the first time in their 2025/26 Champions League campaign, as they seek to put a bad run of domestic form behind them and further cement their place in the top eight.

By Alex Roberts

La Dea have felt the departure of long-term coach Gian Piero Gasperini keenly (he is now at Roma), but their European form hasn’t been too bad. Atalanta sit level on points with Chelsea (10), having already beaten Club Brugge, Marseille, and Eintracht Frankfurt. Enzo Maresca shouldn’t underestimate them.

Love at first sight for Estêvão and the Champions League

His goal against Barcelona in Chelsea 3-0 win last time out made Estêvão just the third teenager to score in his first three consecutive Champions League appearances, alongside Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé. That’s some fine company to be keeping.

The Brazilian has taken to Europe’s premier club competition better than even he would have expected, and with an xG of 2.64, 14 attempts on goal, and a conversion rate of 21.43%, Estêvão is already Chelsea most important attacking threat.

Plenty can be said about how Maresca is performing so far this season, but one of the best things he’s done is manage Estêvão’s minutes perfectly. After coming off the bench in the 0-0 draw vs Bournemouth, we can expect the youngster to be unleashed here.

Ademola Lookman back to his best

It’s been an interesting couple of seasons for the ex-Everton, Fulham, and Leicester forward. Lookman was pushing for a move to Inter in the summer, and it’s taken him a little while to get going since the start of the season.

Now, with three goal contributions in his last five games across all competitions, Lookman is looking like the player we all know and love once again. His performance in the win over Frankfurt was arguably his best, bagging the opener and an assist for Ederson’s goal two minutes later.

Lookman absolutely has the ability to inflict some major damage on the competition’s big boys, and with a point to prove against one of the Premier League’s best, Chelsea will certainly need to be wary.

Team news

Moisés Caicedo has been a massive miss for Chelsea domestically after he just served the second of his three-game suspension after picking up a red card in the 1-1 draw with Arsenal, but he is available for this one.

Cole Palmer also made his long-awated first start since September in the 0-0 draw vs Bournemouth, and it’s fair to say he looked a little rusty. Chelsea have decided to leave him at home for this one as they stagger his return.

There was one major piece of bad news that came out of Chelsea’s draw over the weekend. Liam Delap is set to miss six-eight weeks, with a shoulder injury, joining Levi Colwill (knee), and Roméo Lavia (thigh).

Atalanta don’t have quite as many injury worries. Kamaldeen Sulemana (muscle) and Mitchel Bakker (knee) are both out. Manager Raffaele Palladino has decisions to make though, following their awful 3-1 defeat to Hellas Verona over the weekend.

Prediction

Neither side is in particularly good form at the moment, so we’re not expecting a night to remember. We’re going with a 1-1 draw in beautiful Bergamo. 

(Cover image from IMAGO)

You can follow every game from the Champions League with FotMob this season — featuring deep stats coverage, xG, and player ratings. Download the free app here.