A homecoming worth watching

Rafa Benitez is heading back to Anfield on Tuesday, though not in a dugout. The former Liverpool manager will be working as a pundit for Amazon Prime as the Reds take on Villarreal in the Champions League, joining host Gabby Logan alongside two other familiar faces from the club's history: Robbie Fowler and Daniel Sturridge.

For supporters of a certain vintage, this is a lineup that will bring back some very warm memories. Benitez, now 66 and most recently in charge of Greek side Panathinaikos, remains deeply loved on the Kop for what he built during his six years in charge. The 2005 Champions League triumph is the obvious headline, but he also delivered an FA Cup the following year, reached another Champions League final in 2007, and came agonisingly close to the Premier League title in 2009. The man knows how to build a Liverpool team.

The story behind Fowler's return

The reunion between Benitez and Fowler carries its own particular warmth, because it was Benitez who gave Fowler one of the most cherished chapters of his career. In January 2006, with Fowler short of minutes at Manchester City, his former manager came calling and brought him back to Anfield on a free transfer. What made it all the more remarkable is how the whole thing started.

Fowler recalled the moment he first got Benitez's attention, in typically candid fashion. "After that match was the first time I had met Rafa Benitez," he told Liverpool's club website. "I was in a bar in Liverpool following the game - I actually think it was a club function that I had managed to sneak myself into. It took a little bit of Dutch courage, if I am totally honest - but I was quickly in his ear and telling him how much I'd love to come back. He fobbed me off at first, but it was less than a year later that I got a phone call out of nowhere when I was at Manchester City."

Fowler went on to make 39 appearances in his second spell, scoring 12 goals, and the man the Kop famously dubbed 'God' has never been shy about what it meant to him. "Getting that chance to return to Liverpool was the best thing that ever happened to me in football," he said. "It was better than winning trophies. I got the chance to pull on a red shirt again and I probably appreciated it more."

One more subplot to keep an eye on

The Villarreal tie comes with an interesting footnote beyond the punditry box. Former Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina, who made 302 appearances for the club under Benitez, has a direct connection to the opposition. Reina had two spells at Villarreal as a player and is now coaching their under-19 side, meaning another member of that Benitez era has a stake in how Tuesday night unfolds.

With Benitez watching from the studio, Fowler beside him, and Reina in the opposite camp, Tuesday's match feels like it carries just a little more history than most. Whether Liverpool can add to it is the only question that really matters.