Liverpool's six Champions League meetings with Chelsea over the past three years were nearly always characterised by a volcanic war of words between Rafael Benítez and José Mourinho.

Nobody, it seemed, could quite rile Benítez in the manner of Mourinho and, similarly, few got under the former Chelsea manager's skin to such an unsettling effect as his Liverpool counterpart. Such histrionics made for great theatre - the mild-mannered Spaniard versus the motor-mouthed Portuguese - and as the barbs flowed, so the pulses started racing, the stage perfectly set for yet another titanic showdown.

It is almost disappointing, then, that the tone emanating from the Liverpool camp before the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium this evening was one of respect.

Gone was the animosity. In its place was only admiration for Arsène Wenger, but while Benítez as good as admitted that he could do worse than plagiarise the Arsenal manager's methods and invest heavily in youth in the long term, there was some sound logic behind his compliments.

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Unlike the Arsenal board, who will keep faith with Wenger even if the club fail to win a trophy for the third successive season, Benítez's future remains in doubt and may well be decided by his team's progress in Europe as the bitter ownership struggle at Anfield gathers momentum.

Whether Dubai International Capital, the Arab investment group, manages to wrestle control from Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr, Liverpool's American owners, Benítez is acutely aware that victory in the Champions League final in Moscow on May 21 could be essential for his self-preservation, but that did not prevent the manager from mounting a thinly veiled plea for patience yesterday.

“I have a lot of respect for him [Wenger] and he is doing a fantastic job,” Benítez said. “At this moment, it [the Arsenal way] is the best idea for us. If you start something, it depends on what players you have and sometimes you need to go slowly [to build]. It is always important to have that support.

“If you analyse the teams that have won the league in the last few years, there are three different ways of doing things. Arsenal spent money on young players over a long period, Chelsea spent big money and built a new team in one or two years and United have spent money for years but because they didn't win the league for two years they spent again. If you don't have big, big money, you need to keep working and prepare the foundations for the future.”

The irony, of course, is that Wenger, despite leading Arsenal to the Champions League final in 2006, would dearly love to have enjoyed the same success Benítez has in Europe with Liverpool.

Benítez is nowhere more at home than in European competition and to judge from his upbeat, relaxed mood yesterday, the Liverpool manager appears confident that his team can reach a third Champions League final in four years, even accounting for the threat of Arsenal and the prospect of meeting Chelsea in the last four.

“We have a lot of confidence in ourselves,” Benítez said. “The Champions League is a good competition for us because we have a very good mentality and players with quality. We understand what to do in each game.”

Javier Mascherano will return to bolster Liverpool's midfield after missing the 1-0 win over Everton on Sunday through suspension, but otherwise there should not be too many changes.

The tie may not be won this evening, but as Chelsea discovered to their cost in the semi-finals in 2005 and last year, when they failed to make their chances count in the first legs at Stamford Bridge, it can easily be lost.