Benítez faces Chelsea again at Anfield in the Champions League this evening before a Premiership meeting between the sides at the same ground on Sunday. Mourinho never turns his back on a rivalry. "They also know how to lose," he said, spurning the idea that Liverpool have a hex over his team. "We are beating them 3-1," Mourinho added, counting the fixtures that ended in a win for either side last season.
The manager thrives on the animosity shown towards his club by those who feel they have too much cash in the bank, too many wins on their record. "It is the world against Chelsea," he claimed. "Everyone wants us to lose apart from the Kings Road, Fulham Road and 50,000 people in [his hometown] Setubal."
Despite the showmanship, Mourinho followed Benítez in beating back any idea that tonight's group game can be a restaging of last season's cathartic semi-final. The Spaniard merely recalled with a hint of mischief the 1-0 win achieved by Luis García's disputed winner. "My secretary Sheila said to me, 'I was at the byline and it was a goal,'" Benítez reported.
"They beat Chelsea, but they did not score," Mourinho argued. There is no antagonism between the managers. The Portuguese, however, denies that Liverpool were the best team in Europe last season and proposed instead that Barcelona were, despite being eliminated by Chelsea, because of their "beautiful football".
Benítez was even more relaxed. Like Chelsea, Liverpool started Group G with a win and he may be in accord with Mourinho in feeling that even a defeat tonight would "not be a disaster". Each of them could genuinely give the weekend game a higher priority. "We are in a very good situation," the Chelsea manager said after seven straight league wins. "They aren't. If they lose on Sunday that's it finished for them."
Liverpool have so far beaten only Sunderland in the Premiership. The sparring between the two men is, all the same, gentle. "I like him very much if his success does not interfere with my success," Mourinho said of Benítez, knowing they each have a similar haul of trophies.
None of the defeats in their clashes last season was by a margin of more than a single goal. Liverpool already symbolise resistance to Chelsea in several respects. At the last gasp, they proved that money does not always equal destiny when Steven Gerrard was persuaded to decline a transfer to Stamford Bridge.
It is one of the riveting subplots that the Liverpool captain will tonight aim to bring about Chelsea's downfall while pitting himself against Michael Essien, the powerhouse whom Mourinho signed instead. The Ghana midfielder denied himself a sight of Gerrard at his most influential, having preferred to sleep through the European Cup final.
He might still sense a resonance from that game. On current form Didier Drogba deserves to be picked but it is impossible to forget that Hernán Crespo, then on loan to Milan, scored two of the Italian side's three goals in Istanbul. "It's difficult to play against a striker who knows when to move and where," the Liverpool centre-half Sami Hyypia conceded.
The Finn harbours no resentment of his opponents despite the depth of their squad. "I am not jealous. If someone has the resources to do that they would be stupid not to. If you are winning games it's not boring. I don't think that Chelsea are bad for English football," he said.
With a smaller squad, Benítez may miss the injured Mohamed Sissoko and Fernando Morientes more than Mourinho does Asier del Horno, who is due to begin a comeback in the reserves today. It will once more be difficult to disentangle these sides, but if Chelsea are in form they should win narrowly.