Rafa: No favourites in Champions League semis

The Liverpool boss - already embroiled in a war of words, yet again, with Chelsea counterpart Jose Mourinho - insists he has not been intimidated by Manchester United's sensational seven-goal performance against Roma.

Scroll down to read more:

That came just 24 hours before an efficient Liverpool did "a very good professional job" to see off PSV Eindhoven 1-0 in Wednesday's quarter-final second leg to complete a convincing 4-0 aggregate victory.

The difference between the style and entertainment value of the performances by Man United and Liverpool, though, was marked.

Benitez was complimentary and careful with his praise for United but he is also unlikely to have been impressed by the Italians' defending. It would be hard to image a Benitez team allowing United so much freedom on the wings and through the heart of midfield.

And while many are seriously worried about the security and policing problems of having 80,000 Liverpool and Manchester United fans together in Athens for the final on May 23, Benitez would relish the challenge.

He said: "What I saw from United didn't surprise me, we know they have been playing really well in recent weeks.

"Then when they started scoring the goals it became harder for Roma, who maybe felt that it had become impossible very early on in the game.

"And if you lack confidence like that, and the other team are playing well, it is always more difficult to respond."

Liverpool must face Chelsea in the semi-finals on April 25 in London and May 1 at Anfield before they can really start dreaming of a clash with United - or even a repeat of the 2005 final against AC Milan.

But Benitez is confident he can take his side to their second final in three seasons.

He said: "We are in a very good position, to be in the semi-final is surely a great success for us. To do that twice in three years is really important, but now we want to make sure we win the final again.

"We were not intimidated by the football we saw from Manchester United, we have always known they have great character, and they are in very good form at the moment.

"But if I was offered the chance of playing Manchester United in the final I would be happy and say yes, because that means I will be in the final too. We would be confident of success if that occurred."

He added: "It is difficult to say who is favourite. You can talk about Milan, they are a really good team. The same applies to Manchester United and the way they played this week, and of course Chelsea are also a good team.

"It will be really difficult for all of us, anyone of us can win it now."

But before anyone starts booking flights to Athens, Benitez and Liverpool will have to survive another battle with Mourinho.

The pair have already crossed swords verbally, with Mourinho pointing out Liverpool have only one trophy to concentrate on while Benitez says the Portuguese coach used to be his friend before the Spaniard beat him.

Benitez added: "This is not the way I want it. My aim is really to give the players the chance to be the stars, not for the managers to be talking.

"I do not like to be talking about other managers, but each one of us will decide how we play these games. Really the key when you talk about Chelsea is their players, it should be about Lampard, Drogba, Terry, Cech or Essien. Not about the managers.

"I do not really like it being all about me and Mourinho. But as I have said, we used to have a good relationship but as soon as we started winning he started talking.

"He is the same with Arsene Wenger and the same with Sir Alex Ferguson. You know him, he likes to do this."

And Benitez braced himself for a extended war of words.

He said: "We know that Chelsea will now be in all the media. They will talk about Mourinho and they will talk about their club.

"But the key is really the quality of the players they have. Everyone can say things, but the difference will be on the pitch.

"It could be an advantage to play second at Anfield, if we can do our job in the away game then this stadium and fans produce a fantastic atmosphere.

"They did it for the semi-final two seasons ago, and I know they can do it again for us.

"But it will be hard, Chelsea are very good on the counter-attack away from home. Their win in Valencia showed that, it showed the quality they have in their squad and that they were physically stronger."