Barcelona to feel Rafa backlash in Champions League showdown

The heavyweight clash between the last two winners of the Champions League was generally regarded as the biggest pairing from yesterday's last 16 draw in Nyon.

Barcelona's recent meetings with Jose Mourinho's Chelsea have taken managerial mind games to a new level, but Benitez showed he is no slouch by saying: "All I have heard is how they hoped to draw us — they seem to think they are better.'

While Liverpool were given the toughest hurdle to clear, there were mixed fortunes for Britain's other representatives, with Arsenal tackling in-form Dutch League leaders PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United taking on Lille, Mourinho up against his old club Porto and Celtic facing a difficult test against AC Milan.

Benitez cited Liverpool's shock defeat by Benfica last season as an example of how over-confidence can be the undoing of even the strongest favourites.

He said: "I have received a lot of phone calls from people in Spain and they were all saying how much Barcelona wanted to draw us. They will not lack confidence, but this is the Champions League, and everyone knows what a big difference it makes to our players.

"As Valencia coach, I won many times at the Nou Camp. In fact, over the past few years, Valencia have become their bogey team, so we will not have anything to fear.

"You only have to look at last season to see what can happen. Everyone thought it would be easy for us against Benfica. Now they are saying this is mission impossible against Barcelona. We have a lot of respect for them, but we have shown what we're capable of in this competition."