Rafael Benitez, who returned to the English Premier Leaguemanagement fold after replacing Roberto di Matteo at Chelsea, has at least onething in common with his Stamford Bridge predecessor.
Namely, a nailbiting Champions League triumph which provedthe high watermark of his reign before a parting ways.
The difference between the two was that Benitez's fall fromgrace, after his peak in 2005 when Liverpool came from three goals down to beatAC Milan on penalties, came in slow motion.
It was only in 2010 that the 52-year-old Spaniard leftAnfield by "mutual consent" after a disappointing seventh placefinish in the league and an exit at the group stage of the Champions League -three years on from a second final when the Milanese exacted revenge.
The man who had earlier led Valencia to two Liga crowns andthe UEFA Cup fell out with club officials both with the Spaniards thenLiverpool over funds for the transfer kitty - at Valencia he famously said"I asked for a table and they bought me a lampshade."
However, in his latter years at Liverpool some of hissignings did not shine brightly enough to require a lampshade and missing outon Champions League qualification in his final year was too much for theAnfield hierarchy, who have yet to see the Merseysiders return to Europe's toptable.
Torres will certainly welcome Benitez's arrival, havingblossomed into one of the game's finest strikers during their time together atLiverpool.
After Anfield, it was off to Inter Milan to step into the oversizedshoes of one Jose Mourinho, who had just ended a four-decade drought by winningthe Champions League - something Benitez himself had been instrumental inpreventing the Portuguese from doing while the latter was at Chelsea.
At Inter, Benitez's story becomes once again curiouslyintertwined with di Matteo's - in half a season at San Siro the Spaniard, whohad had to deal with Liverpool's then new American owners sounding out JurgenKlinsmann behind his back, won the Italian Super Cup and the World Club Cup.
Days after the latter triumph and he was out of the doorafter - true to previous form - demanding money for new signings to overhaulMourinho's European champions.
Two days before Christmas, his Italian adventure was overafter barely six months.
That compares with Di Matteo's being told to clear his deskat Stamford Bridge hours after the loss to Juventus left the Blues facing theignominy of being the first Champions League winners to exit at the group stagethe following season.
Di Matteo was afforded just over eight months in chargeafter taking over from Andre Villas-Boas, first in an interim capacity, lastMarch.
In those months the Italian, backed by fans who already hadfond memories of him as a player, landed two far bigger trophies than Benitezdid with Inter - Chelsea's first European Cup, which Mourinho himself did notmanage, as well as an FA Cup.
Yet that was not enough for owner Roman Abramovich, whoquickly pulled the trigger.
The question for Benitez, as he becomes the ninth coach ofRoman's reign - in only as many years - must surely be: does Chelsea's Russianowner have another bullet in the chamber and how long until the next round ofRussian roulette, London style?
The answer may well depend on Benitez's ability to rekindlethe flame with Fernando Torres, the man he brought to Liverpool before leavingsix months before the player's sale for 50 million pounds.
The striker has patently yet to justify that fee in Chelseablue, to the extent di Matteo dropped him on Tuesday - a brave call which,along with a month's wretched form by the team as a whole, helped cost theItalian his job.
