Chelsea’s recent stutter has infected their European campaign. André Villas-Boas would contest that a draw secured away from home in this competition should ever constitute the prolongation of a blip but his side suffered the same lapses of concentration, and outbreak of sloppiness, in Belgium that have afflicted them domestically.

There was to be no real respite in Genk after the “disastrous week” Chelsea had endured – the visitors’ principal consolation the reality that the home side were considerably less ruthless than Arsenal had been on Saturday.

Better opponents would have prospered when Chelsea dawdled, familiar gaps opening up in their defence and a missed penalty blunting their challenge. The point secured here leaves four more technically still required to be certain of winning the group, which is still eminently achievable. But the management will surely not be satisfied with current progress.

Chelsea had arrived in Belgium licking their wounds after Saturday’s five-goal scorching by Arsenal, their defence having been pierced far too often for comfort in that derby, and with the allegations surrounding their captain, John Terry, further influencing the mood.

The defender was rested here, as he had been for the home fixture against these opponents a fortnight earlier, but took to the bench as confirmation came through from home that the Metropolitan police has now launched a formal investigation into the defender’s alleged racist abuse of Anton Ferdinand in last month’s game at Loftus Road. There is no escaping that controversy at present, with sections of the travelling fans delivering a chorus of: “We know what you are, Anton Ferdinand, we know what you are.”

That was miserable to hear, though the supporters were at least offered a distraction as their team gradually asserted some dominance. The contest should have been decided by the break only for profligacy to undermine the visitors’ attacking promise. Even so, Genk, a side who have proved horribly inconsistent even in the Belgian league this season and had failed to score in any of their first three group games in this competition, had failed to make any real impression when Chelsea were at their sloppiest. That hardly suggested they could recover even from a one-goal deficit at the interval.

The lead was established by Ramires, exchanging slick passes with Fernando Torres before forcing his shot from an acute angle through Laszlo Koteles’s attempt to block. That was the Brazilian’s fourth goal of a productive campaign and he might have added another, leaping above Nadson only to nod wide. The Genk centre-half tried to swap shirts with him at the break, such was the rather unnerving sense that this was another mismatch in the making.

The hosts should have been in a hopeless position by then. Raul Meireles, imperious in possession, had struck the angle of post and bar from distance and Anthony Vanden Borre, formerly of Portsmouth, was close to scoring an own goal from Florent Malouda’s fizzed centre.

When the Frenchman was offered space to deliver again, his cross struck Thomas Buffel’s hand to earn a penalty. But, after Nicolas Anelka had missed from the spot against Everton last week and with Frank Lampard on the bench, David Luiz saw his attempt pushed away by the diving Koteles. That felt merely wasteful at the time, but it soon felt critical.

The odd flurry of Genk pressure, often sparked by Kevin de Bruyne – the scorer of a hat-trick at Bruges on Saturday and a long-standing Chelsea target – duly created anxiety in the early exchanges of the second half.

Kennedy Nwanganga might have pilfered an equaliser after Vanden Borre’s charge from deep only for Petr Cech to smother the chance. Yet, if there was relief to be had at that save, the slackness had not been eradicated. With the contest drifting beyond the hour-mark, Fabien Camus burst into space vacated by José Bosingwa and crossed for an unmarked Jelle Vossen to score through a cluttered six-yard box.

Genk’s first Champions League goal of the campaign did at least serve to jolt the visitors out of their sudden lethargy, Juan Mata, Daniel Sturridge and Lampard were summoned from the bench to provide the cavalry, though the frustration continued to mount. Meireles headed straight at Koteles while Lampard, a yard out, could only guide his shot wide of an open goal as he stumbled awkwardly to reach Sturridge’s cross. If that felt comical, so too was Anele Ngongca’s panicked clearance as Malouda’s late attempt threatened to drift into a gaping net. This was not to be Chelsea’s night.

Champions League 2011-12GenkChelseaDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk

Chelsea’s new manager was pleased with his side’s second-half improvement in a bruising encounter but still demanded more

André Villas-Boas was eager to promote an encouraging second-half revival, the positives to which he clung dotted with regular references to the daunting challenge faced by all-comers at this arena. Yet the natural born winner in the Portuguese could not disguise an underlying sense of deflation on debut. “I’d have enjoyed it better if we’d won,” said Chelsea’s latest manager. “No, I couldn’t be pleased with just a point.”

This club’s seventh manager of the Roman Abramovich era will at least feel a little more battle-hardened for the task ahead in the wake of this thunderous occasion. Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium had always felt like an awkward way to start, a fixture to test the resolve of new manager and seasoned players alike, so to emerge with a point and a clean sheet could be deemed respectable. After all, Tony Pulis’s side are wonderfully impressive at unsettling all calibre of opposition and there were times, particularly in the first half, when the visitors’ rearguard creaked in repelling their hosts’ barrage.

Yet Chelsea’s supporters should actually be reassured that even a point here is essentially deemed unsatisfactory by the new man in charge. It was Villas-Boas, not the media, who first mentioned this team’s “title challenge” afterwards, suggesting “one point is not bad, if not the greatest start”. There is talk served up freely of titles in August. For some, this might have been a contest from which merely to escape unscathed. Villas-Boas suggested stalemate was a missed opportunity. “It would have been a massive win if we had, particularly given Arsenal’s and Liverpool’s results,” he added. “A point is not ideal but it is not the end of the world. We can build on it.” Already sights are fixed on regaining the Premier League.

That is to be expected from a manager who has not lost a game since last February. Suited if unshaven, the 33-year-old had paced his technical area relentlessly, continually dropping to his haunches to view the game from pitch level, clapping frantically as his charges stood up to the physical challenges they faced or springing up and round in exasperation if the tempo dropped or the easy pass went ignored. At times he was manic in his appreciation of events on the pitch. He looked exhausted at the interval, the colour drained from his face as if this had all been a profound shock to his system. By the end, having instigated a response, he had rediscovered the confidence and conviction.

The Portuguese is a scholar of the game and had arrived in the Potteries knowing full well what awaited his team. But this must still have been an eye-opener. Stoke were a month into what would prove to be a successful promotion campaign in the Championship when Villas-Boas, then part of José Mourinho’s backroom staff, had left Stamford Bridge in September 2007. This was still all new, “a specific challenge in the Premier League” he later stated, with his criticisms of Stoke’s “pushing and grabbing” an insight into a clash of cultures. In fact, Chelsea teams in the past – Ricardo Carvalho against Barcelona springs to mind – have employed similar strong-arm tactics at times.

Yet, more significantly, this occasion did not lend itself to being a gauge of the impact Villas-Boas has already made on Chelsea’s style. There was to be no dictating of tempo through the first period while Stoke snapped centrally and scuttled out wide, with the ball forever fizzing from end to end with bone-crunching tackles all around. The flashes of quality mustered after the break were more promising, Chelsea’s fluid, attacking approach boding well with slick combination play around the box by-passing home defenders. Fernando Torres was more threatening throughout than at many stages last season. This was a better performance, certainly in terms of their rugged defending, than the one offered by Carlo Ancelotti’s side in a 1-1 draw here in April.

Yet it was still a match that will have the Italian’s successor fidgeting in frustration, particularly given Manchester United’s victory at the Hawthorns. Pulis praised the visitors and said they were “a great side” who would “finish in the top three for sure”. But that will not be enough for Villas-Boas. His sights are set much higher. The perfectionist in him will be simmering in frustration.

ChelseaStoke CityPremier League 2011-12Premier LeagueDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk