Benitez watched his team hit sustained heights in a demolition of Derby County as they took over the leadership of the top division for the first time since November 2002. But he had no special celebrations planned for Saturday evening and he emerged into the press room clutching a sheet of notes to remind him where there were improvements to be made.
"A lot of notes," he said. "You always know you can do better in football. We can improve a lot. You'll see a lot of teams playing as Derby [played] here at Anfield and you have to learn how to attack them, be patient and keep the high tempo that we wanted to. You analyse the positives, but especially in these kind of games, it's best to analyse the problems."
It may seem hypercritical after a team have scored six goals, but one of the areas Liverpool need to work on is their forward play. Dirk Kuyt and Fernando Torres struggled to get on one another's wavelengths in the first-half.
Such was the dominance of the Liverpool midfield, though, that it scarcely mattered as Jermaine Pennant and Ryan Babel, ably supplied from the centre by Javier Mascherano, tormented the Derby full-backs.
Steven Gerrard, whose toe injury makes Benitez reluctant to release him for England duty, was hardly missed.
The opposition was feeble, as even the impressively vocal travelling supporters admitted when they chanted: "Premier League? We're having a laugh." "We want one," they chanted, when Craig Fagan, who had fruitlessly run his legs off all afternoon, missed from four yards out in the 82nd minute. "Bring on United," Derby's contingent then bellowed, in mock challenge to the champions.
Defiant
Davies, who had five players out injured, remained defiant afterwards.
"We're in this together, as winners or losers," he said. "The second goal just on half-time killed us mentally and the second-half goals were very disappointing.
"One or two were freezing, not brave enough, standing back and admiring. The play-offs shortened our preparation time, and it takes 10 games or so to learn in the Premiership.''
For 20 minutes it was a match. Of a sort. Derby, with a 4-1-4-1 formation, were pulling 10 men behind the ball, giving Xabi Alonso and Mascherano no avenue through which to thread their passes, obliging not only Torres and Kuyt, but Pennant and Babel on the flanks to play with their back to goal.
At this stage there was little co-ordination between Torres and Kuyt, however exciting they were individually
Benitez talked afterwards about the need to juggle four strikers -- with Andriy Voronin and Peter Crouch -- and playing the combination best suited to beating the opposition.
So long as Derby's tenacious midfield held firm, they had a remote chance. But all hope was dashed when, behind to Alonso's free-kick, Derby conceded a second in the final moments of the first-half as Babel finished off a breathtaking, but largely unchallenged passing sequence.
"I was pleased with all the goals, but Ryan Babel's was probably the best," added Benitez. "But it was good to see Fernando Torres keep scoring, while Xabi Alonso could have had a hat-trick.
"When (Andriy) Voronin came on he fitted straight into the play and also scored. I just wanted to see Dirk Kuyt score because he had done so much running and created a lot of space for other players. It was good to score four and then six in front of our own supporters this week."
Breakdown
Benitez's only cloud on the week has been the shock departure of his assistant Paco Ayestaran, who quit after what has been a gradual breakdown in the relationship between the two men, who have worked together for 11 years with Tenerife, Valencia and Liverpool.
Liverpool are currently working on the details of Ayestaran's departure, having signed a new contract only last season. Benitez added: "Personally, this has been disappointing. But we are determined to keep going, nobody is bigger than the club.
"It is a shame this has happened, but the club are now talking to Paco over the terms of his departure."
At the moment, it would be hard for Billy Davies to have much sympathy for his Liverpool counterpart.
"We're still the primary-school kid at the secondary school, standing back, looking about the place and admiring who's who," the Derby manager admitted. Torres scored his first goal in front of the Kop early in the second-half and Alonso, Voronin and Torres completed the rout thanks to a combination of sublime passing and dismal defending.
Davies could only put on a brave face.
"At this stage last season, we were getting beaten 4-3 at Colchester," he said. "We started from then with a blank piece of paper and I am very confident we will turn it around again this time."
In the meantime, expect a long, hard winter.