The draw for the last four pitted the sides together for their fifth meeting of the current campaign and their 10th in two seasons, with Middlesbrough or Charlton taking on West Ham in the other semifinal.

Chelsea completed a Premiership double over the Reds last month, while the two Champions League group meetings between the sides ended goalless. However, the games were most notable for some unsavoury moments on the field and various swipes at one another in the press.

Benitez said: "I know people will build this up as a game between Benitez and Jose Mourinho, but it is the players who are the stars, not the managers. And there will be a lot of talk about the match, but I know Chelsea will behave like we will, with respect for the opposition."

Mourinho was of course deeply unhappy at the goal scored by Luis Garcia in last season's Champions League semifinal which helped Liverpool through on their way to European Cup glory, while this season's encounters have featured such ugly moments as Michael Essien's wild tackle on Dietmar Hamann and Jose Reina's sending-off at Stamford Bridge after some play-acting by Arjen Robben.

Add in Steven Gerrard's on-off move to the Londoners in the summer and there is plenty of history between the sides. But Benitez sees these regular meetings as a natural by-product of both sides' recent success.

"When you are winning matches and get to this stage of the competitions you expect to have to face the best teams, and Chelsea are one of the best sides in the country," the Spaniard added. "It is a cup tie we can win, but we must not talk of it as if it was the final, if we do win then we will be playing a very motivated team in the final."

He added: "There is always rivalry between big teams, we expect that. And to win trophies you must beat the best and the fact that we keep playing them means that we are always competing at the end of big tournaments. Liverpool and Chelsea will always be trying to win trophies, so we will keep meeting like this."