Chelsea will be favourites to win the all-Premiership Champions League semi-final against Liverpool.
But Liverpool have shown that, on a given day, they can beat anyone - and that's why I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that they could beat Chelsea and go on to win the whole thing.
No-one, myself including, would have given Liverpool a prayer of doing that, not least when they turned in abject displays against the likes of Birmingham and Southampton earlier this season.
But in Europe they are a team transformed and have shown that they can threaten anyone.
Chelsea may be 30 points ahead of Liverpool in the Premiership and have three wins under their belt against them this season but, in a strange way, Benitez can take heart from those games.
I recall when I played for a dominant Liverpool, Chelsea had an Indian sign over us in the cup competitions and I remember coming a cropper on a couple of occasions.
And over two legs of a European semi-final there can be many twists and turns. Liverpool will be underdogs but they will have faith in themselves after the way they dispatched Bayer Leverkusen and Juventus.
Liverpool played badly at Stamford Bridge and lost but in the narrow 1-0 defeat at Anfield and in the loss in the Carling Cup final, they more than matched Chelsea for long periods.
And this will not be like some cagey European affair.
The semi-final will be a typical Premiership collision, with tackles flying in and no room for the faint-hearted.
Chelsea's confidence will be high and they have some real thoroughbreds in their team, but Liverpool will know they are three games away from the big prize.
Liverpool's fans have had some terrible lows in recent times and just to reach the Champions League semi-final will give them a massive high.
But there may just be a growing feeling inside Anfield, both from players and supporters, that this unlikely adventure could go all the way to the final destination in Istanbul on 25 May.
It is a wonderful endorsement of the Premier League that two English clubs are in the the last four of the Champions League, with one guaranteed to be in the 25 May Istanbul final.
Who will that 'one' be? Everything points to Chelsea.
I didn't think Liverpool would get past Juventus - and I wasn't the only one.
As good as they played in the first game, I thought we'd see the real Juve in Turin, but it never happened.
Over the two legs I can only really recall three good chances for Juventus and I was amazed by their approach.
But take nothing away from Liverpool who put in two fantastic displays and keep progressing.
Their results in Europe have been excellent. They've been winning their home games, which is always crucial, and have proved difficult to beat on the road.
But that also sums up Chelsea, who are just so strong in every department and, unlike Liverpool, have replacements waiting in the wings if they have two or three out injured or suspended.
Chelsea have been even better defensively and carry a greater threat on the counter-attack, but Rafa Benitez doesn't need me to tell him that.
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PAST MEETINGS 2004/05
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He has seen Chelsea three times this season at close quarters, losing each time, twice in the league and once in the Carling Cup final.
There's a feeling on Merseyside that they've not had the rub of the green against Chelsea in those matches and they're due.
Benitez has given Liverpool a passion and organisation in Europe which has been outstanding.
The big question is whether he can carry that into a somewhat parochial European match. Time will tell.
It will be a tight contest and the matches should be a wonderful advert for the Premier League, and for different reasons, it would be excellent for either team to reach that Istanbul final.
I can't honestly see how Liverpool can get there, but with the way that it's happening at the moment, who's to say?
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