It is ironic that Chelsea failed to draw blood for the first time this season in vampire country, although Luiz Felipe Scolari is unlikely to see the funny side. The Brazilian will find a squad that looks like it has been savaged by a whole host of unpleasant creatures when he returns to the club’s training ground this morning, with Chelsea’s players collecting enough bumps and bruises to satisfy even the most voracious opponent’s thirst for blood.

Cluj could not be described as a neat counter-attacking side, but when they look back at Chelsea’s horror show they will be cursing that they failed to score and record another famous win. Scolari was honest enough to admit afterwards that he was disappointed with his players’ performance for only the second time in his brief reign, though he will have been pleased with the resilience they showed to dig in for a point in the face of considerable adversity. As has been the case since José Mourinho joined the club four years ago, Chelsea are not easily beaten.

When the dust settles it will be the number of injuries that worries Scolari most, rather than his side’s surprising sloppiness in possession and limited attacking threat. Didier Drogba’s knee injury is the biggest concern, although the knocks collected by John Terry, Ashley Cole and Alex will also present problems to a squad missing Michael Essien, Ricardo Carvalho, Joe Cole and Deco. Any club in the world would struggle without players of that calibre, and in the coming weeks Chelsea may find that they do, too.

On the surface, their trip to Transylvania seemed like a journey back in time to the days when European competitions frequently brought adventures into the unknown, although it could also come to represent a vision of the future. Michel Platini, the Uefa president, is determined to increase the presence of clubs from smaller nations in the Champions League and Cluj’s remarkable success story gives his plans increased credibility. This juxtaposition of old and new was reflected in the Dr Constantin Radulescu Stadium, with the brand new stand that has been built to bring the ground up to Uefa standards sitting alongside Soviet-style flats that would long since have been condemned in the West.

The home fans were determined to enjoy the biggest occasion in the club’s 101-year history, arriving two hours before kick-off to create and then revel in a party atmosphere that continued after the final whistle, when they celebrated as if they had won the game. The size of Cluj’s challenge was even reflected in the music that was played on the PA before kick-off, with the German Eurohouse of Toca’s Miracle by Fragma imploring the players with the refrain “I Need a Miracle”.

Cluj have already achieved one miraculous result this season in a city that glories in them, beating Roma in the Olympic Stadium two weeks ago, and with better finishing they would have pulled off another one. Having seen that game, Scolari resolved to take no chances, bringing his players here earlier than usual on Monday night and subjecting them to several hours of DVD-watching on Tuesday, although to judge by the way they started many of them may well have drifted off after sampling the popcorn. Despite enjoying almost 60 per cent of the possession, Chelsea were uncharacteristically wasteful, giving the ball away frequently and allowing Cluj to build threatening attacks on the break.

As Scolari had predicted, their multinational opponents played like a team of South Americans, using their talented wingers, Juan Culio and Sebastián Dubarbier, and attacking full backs, Alvaro Pereira and Tony, to break at speed and were it not for the absence of a killer final ball they would have taken a deserved lead by half-time. The muscular Yssouf Koné, an Ivory Coast team-mate of Drogba, also caused problems, with Terry and Alex made to look distinctly leaden-footed. Carvalho is badly missed when Chelsea’s opponents possess real pace.

Cluj were largely restricted to pot-shots from distance in the first half, although they did create a couple of clear-cut chances. The best fell to Eugen Trica, who volleyed wide from close range after being released by a sublime chip by Dubarbier after a break from Pereira.

With Salomon Kalou and Florent Malouda offering nothing down the flanks, Scolari introduced Nicolas Anelka in place of the Ivorian for the second half. The manager would have been tempted to make more changes, although his resources are so stretched that Franco Di Santo and Miroslav Stoch, an 18-year-old Slovakian promoted from the youth team, were his only other attacking options.

Anelka made an immediate impact, playing a one-two with Frank Lampard that enabled the England midfield player to volley wide at the near post in Chelsea’s first attack of note in the 48th minute. When Drogba was withdrawn, Scolari’s revealing response was to bring on Juliano Belletti as an additional defensive midfield player.

Such caution was well advised because by the end Chelsea were hanging on. Culio shot narrowly wide of the far post in the 80th minute and it took a smart save by Petr Cech to deny the outstanding Pereira three minutes from time. In the land that inspired a thousand horror films this was quite a fright.

CFR Cluj (4-2-3-1): E Stancioiu — Tony, Cadú, De Sousa, A Pereira — Dani, G Muresan — S Dubarbier, E Trica (sub: Dida, 89), J Culio — Y Koné. Substitutes not used: Nuno Claro, C Panin, H Alcantara, C Deac, E Kone, D Ruiz. Booked: Pereira, Dani.

Chelsea (4-1-4-1): P Cech — J Bosingwa, Alex, J Terry, W Bridge — J O Mikel — S Kalou (sub: N Anelka, 46), M Ballack, F Lampard, F Malouda (sub: F Di Santo, 74) — D Drogba (sub: J Belletti, 58). Substitutes not used: Hilário, B Ivanovic, P Ferreira, M Stoch. Booked: Alex, Anelka.

Referee: F Meyer (Germany).