Benitez is a pretty good cup coach, however.
I agree. And last season, they had injury issues and were a bit tired after playing important league games (one of them was away vs Sevilla or Valencia IIRC). We were well-rested (could rest players because we had practically won the scudetto) and had a better team than we do now.
They really missed Modric, and we took advantage of that by playing 4 CMs. They were also missing Benzema in the 1st leg.
Even with all that, it was tough last season. It'll undoubtedly be tougher this season unless they've an injury crisis and suffer from a loss of form in February.
I think some are feeling at ease at the prospect of facing Real because we beat them last season, have a good historical record vs them, and because they recently lost to Barca 0-4. But there's no reason think it wouldn't be a terrible draw.