SOMEWHERE, DEEP IN the bowels of Sky headquarters in Isleworth, somebody is grinning from ear-to-ear. At the same time, some 12 miles to the east at the Premier League, someone else looks equally contented.

In case you hadn't noticed, football is now part of the "sports entertainment" industry. Not quite WWE, in the sense that it's not scripted (as far as we know), but not terribly far off in the sense it lives off feuds. Knowing that two managers or players genuinely dislike each other off the pitch adds to the sense of theatre and the idea anything can happen.

Which is partly what makes today's showdown between Liverpool and Chelsea so enticing. The players have, once again, been overshadowed and today will be about Jose Mourinho and Rafa Benitez, two men with curiously intertwined careers.

The overriding sense is that Benitez feels Mourinho does not fully respect him. It's a story which goes back to the spring of 2004, when both were planning their moves to the Premiership.

Mourinho was first approached by Liverpool but, after Chelsea registered their interest, he made it clear he was "no longer available". That's when Liverpool turned to Benitez. This must have rankled the Spaniard to some degree. Mourinho's resume was certainly impressive, two league titles, a Portuguese Cup, a UEFA Cup and a Champions' League crown, all of them with Porto. But Benitez also had a UEFA Cup under his belt and he had also won two league titles. What's more, he won those titles at Valencia, competing against the likes of Real Madrid and Barcelona.

But the pair managed to avoid each other for much of the 2004-05 season. Mourinho had spent in excess of £100 million and was steamrollering his way to the Premiership title. Benitez, on the other hand, was trying to cobble together a side ravaged by seven seasons under Gerard Houllier. Domestically, at least, they might has well have been playing in different leagues.

Fate saw them meet in the Champions' League semi-final. After a scoreless draw at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool won the return leg thanks to a disputed Luis Garcia goal. A wild-eyed Mourinho faced the cameras and complained it was a "phantom goal".

He added: "The better team did not win this game. The better team is not going to the final. The team that deserves to go is not Liverpool."

It wasn't the first time that Mourinho had been less than gracious in defeat and it wouldn't be the last. But, for whatever reason, Benitez seemed to take it to heart. Particularly when, in the following seasons, Mourinho made numerous references to the fact "Liverpool are not a big team" and that "To have not won the league for almost fifteen years is not good enough."

Benitez's has always clawed back with remarks over the obscene spending power at Chelsea thanks to billionaire owner Roman Abramovich. But Mourinho fired another salvo at Benitez last week when he said: "The pressure is on Liverpool this season. They spent a lot of money and they haven't won the title in many years."

That was enough for Benitez to rise to the bait once again on Friday. "I always say that Abramovich has done a really good job at Chelsea That is the key."

The real question, though, is why Benitez gives in to Mourinho's provocation. Why he chooses to engage in mindgames with someone like the Portuguese boss.

Benitez is fundamentally a simple guy. He spends his free time at home with his wife, watching football and thinking about his day job. He is neither brash, nor loud, nor prickly, nor arrogant. Why take on Mourinho at his own game?

Perhaps it's because, over the past year or so, Benitez has become rather sensitive about criticism of his management style or his club. He flew off the handle when Jorge Valdano, a footballing aesthete rather crudely revealed he did not think much of Liverpool's brand of football. Benitez retorted by getting personal, mocking Valdano's time at Real Madrid and attacking him directly.

It was an uncharacteristic departure for a guy who had previously built a reputation as a footballing gentleman. But maybe it's understandable if Benitez feels a bit hard done by. In the eyes of some sections of the English media he has inherited Claudio Ranieri's Tinkerman' mantle for his frequent use of squad rotation. And he's committed - and continues to commit - the cardinal sin of playing Steven Gerrard wide on the right, prompting accusations he doesn't know what his best XI is from the more moronic of ex-professional pundits.

The fact he has reached as many Champions League finals in the past three seasons as Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson in their entire careers combined earns him little credit. And, when you're sensitive to begin with, it's easy to slip into paranoia.

Exhibit A: when Mourinho shaved his head last summer, he was hailed as a fashion icon. When Benitez grew his goatee beard, he became a figure of fun, lampooned by all. Why the double standard?

For Mourinho, the fact he has unsettled Benitez once again is just another notch on his belt. He has tangled with many of his rivals, both domestically and abroad and it seems to suit him just fine - probably because, unlike Benitez, he could not care less what people think about him. Or, at least, that's the impression he gives.

"He's a great manager and that's what matters," one Chelsea player told me on Friday about Mourinho.

"But if he were an opposing manager, I probably would not like him very much, though I would respect what he does."

As for Liverpool, Benitez's approach towards his players has always been professional, if detached. Gerrard wrote in his autobiography that, unlike Houllier - who would call him at all hours and once invited him to move into his house - Benitez is a somewhat distant figure. He doesn't try to be the players' friend, much less father figure, or even kindly uncle. He's happy just being the boss and treating them like employees. Which is why they're unlikely to be affected either way by the simmering feud between the two managers.

Still, once the final whistle goes - and maybe even before - it's a decent bet the pair will be at it again, with Mourinho seeing how far he can push Benitez and the Liverpool manager retorting with his usual "Abramovich did very well" shtick.

And, for some of us, that's part of the entertainment.