Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel had warned that his big names might be playing too much football and on Wednesday he lost forwards Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner to injury against lower ranked opposition in the Champions League.

The defending European champions ran out easy 4-0 winners in driving rain against Malmo with goals from Andreas Christensen and Kai Havertz and two bullet penalties by Jorginho.

But Lukaku fell victim to a clumsy tackle in the 18th minute and Werner pulled up clutching his hamstring just before half-time. “We have a twist of the ankle for Romelu and muscle injury and hamstring for Timo,” Tuchel said. “They will be out for some time.” But the German said he did not regret playing Lukaku who had failed to score in six games before Wednesday’s clash.

“It was maybe the moment to give him confidence and let him play.” Tuchel said. “We don’t want these problems too often but it happens during a season.”

The coach, who led Chelsea to Champions League glory against Manchester City last May and whose side are top of the Premier League, had suggested before the game that some of his players might have lost a little motivation through playing too much. He mentioned Lukaku in particular. “At this moment I feel Romelu is a bit overplayed, he played too many games over the summer... It is difficult to judge if he really needs a break or if we need to keep him on the pitch,” Tuchel had said on Tuesday.

It is a price big clubs pay for their top-quality line-ups. Lukaku, who signed for Chelsea from Inter Milan at the start of the season for some $134 million, has twice joined up with Belgium since he arrived in London.

Werner, too, worked hard to help Germany qualify for the World Cup during the international weeks. Most of the Chelsea first team do not get the rest their less vaunted colleagues enjoy during the international “breaks”.

Coach hit by virus

Bayern Munich coach Julian Nagelsmann has tested positive for Covid-19, the club said on Thursday, a day after he missed their 4-0 win at Benfica in Lisbon with “flu-like symptoms”.

“He (Nagelsmann) will return to Munich separately in an ambulance flight and will go into home isolation,” the German champions said in a statement.

The 34-year-old had been ruled out for managing the game about an hour before kick-off and was replaced by his assistants.

On Wednesday, Nagelsmann was not missed much at the dug-out as Bayern struck four times in a frantic 15-minute spell late in the second half to make it three wins out of three Group E matches.

Leroy Sane whipped in a fierce free-kick in the 70th minute and drilled in his second in the 85th after Benfica substitute Everton headed in an own goal in the 80th and Robert Lewandowski bagged their third goal two minutes later.

The Bavarians had earlier hit the woodwork and also had two efforts disallowed.

But Benfica had their share of golden opportunities in an entertaining game before eventually running out of gas after the 70th minute.

Bayern, who have now scored 12 goals in their three games and have conceded none, are top of Group E on nine points, with Benfica in second place on four.

They are also unbeaten in a record-extending 20 consecutive Champions League away games.