Fergie refuses to press panic button
But cult status was always going to be withheld from him until he produced success over Manchester United.
Although Liverpool are still searching for a first Anfield win over their fiercest rivals for four years, the Spaniard has at least taken another important step forward towards earning his place in local folklore.
They may have failed to end their long wait for a win at Anfield, but there was no mistaking the happier supporters after a bruising encounter which saw Roy Keane limp off with a broken foot which will keep the influential United captain out of action until at least December.
Liverpool may still be searching for their first goal from open play in the Premiership and they are clearly better suited to playing on the continental stage than the Premiership.
But, in Benitez's eyes, this was a day to gloss over the negatives and dwell on the positives.
His side have still to concede a goal in the league since lifting the European Cup in May.
Like United, they also remain unbeaten and this result ended a run of three successive Anfield defeats at the hands of Alex Ferguson's side.
"You have to look at the positive things. We have four clean sheets and that's positive," said Benitez. "I know we need to score. But last season we played Manchester United twice and lost. Now we're on the same level as them and that's not bad because they are one of the top three sides."
His counterpart was not so positive. And you could hardly blame Ferguson as this was a bad day at the office for United's Scottish manager.
Losing Gabriel Heinze, the Argentine defender, to injury until March in the build-up to yesterday's game was bad enough. Losing Keane, the heart-beat of the United side, for another lengthy period is nothing short of a catastrophe.
Keane, who will also miss the final game of the Republic of Ireland's World Cup qualifying campaign, hobbled off in the final minute of a game void of thrills soon after a full blooded challenge with Luis Garcia.
Ferguson, who is also without Gary Neville and Wes Brown to injury, also has another headache. His side now trail and reigning champions Chelsea by seven points after being held to their third successive league and cup draw. Ferguson admitted his side lacked "a cutting edge" to beat Liverpool but refused to press the panic button, insisting there was still plenty of time to catch Chelsea.
"There's a long way to go and Chelsea have still got to play games like this. Maybe these games with Liverpool are too intense and maybe they are too important at times and that puts pressure on the players."
Chelsea were clearly the beneficiaries from a game which raised more questions about both team's title aspirations than provided answers.
So explosive in Spain five days earlier, Liverpool forced Edwin van der Sar into just one serious save while Jose Reina, the Liverpool keeper, had an equally uneventful afternoon as both sides cancelled each other out.
Peter Crouch's 6ft 7in frame may pose a threat in the air against some teams but against an experienced United defensive unit he spent most the afternoon chasing shadows.
Florent Sinama-Pongolle, who won a starting place after scoring against Real Betis, was equally unimpressive.
The good news on a bad day for United came in the shape of Wayne Rooney, lampooned for his dismissal in the Champions League game with Villarreal in midweek. The match-winner in the corresponding fixture last season kept his head this time yet failed to test Reina who enjoyed his quietest game since arriving from Spain in the summer.
Steven Gerrard went closest for Liverpool with a trademark long-range strike which brought a flying save from van der Sar while Ruud van Nistelrooy blew United's best chance when his attempted chip landed on the roof of the net in the final minute of the first-half.
Gerrard's 30-yard effort failed to silence calls from The Kop for the introduction of French striker Djibril Cisse who was sat on the substitutes bench. They got their wish 12 minutes from time when Cisse came on for the jaded Crouch, yet even Cisse did not look like scoring in a game which is best forgotten.
: This was the first 0-0 draw between Liverpool and United in Premiership history.
: There has been just one goal in Liverpool's four Premiership games this term, and Man Utd had more 0-0 league draws last season than any other team - six.
: Reina, Finnan, Carragher, Hyypia, Warnock (Traore, 83),Garcia, Riise, Alonso, Gerrard, Sinama-Pongolle (Sissoko, 70), Crouch (Cisse, 78). Subs not used: Carson, Josemi.
: Van der Sar, O'Shea, Ferdinand, Silvestre, Richardson, Keane (Fletcher, 89), Scholes, Smith, Ronaldo (Ji-Sung, 90), van Nistelrooy, Rooney (Giggs, 89).
: Rob Styles (Waterlooville).
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