Yes, don't be confused. Imam Abu Hanifa is called Imam Azam (the greatest imam). In Mufti Zar Wali's tafseer, he mentions a few things: 1) Imam Abu Hanifa did 55 Hajj and met 17 sahaba and most of them he observed while they were praying. So he was a Tab'ee 2) Imam Shafi was a student of Imam Muhammad's students (who was one of the most prominent students of Imam Abu Hanifa) 3) Imam Hanbal became interested in Fiqh after hearing about the fame of Imam Yusuf (who was also a student of Imam Abu Hanifa) 4) In the book "Ma Wafaqal asghar bil Akbar", are listed all the rulings where Imam Hanbal followed the same rulings as Imam Abu Hanifa. All 4 madhabs are acceptable in the court of Allah. They were the auliya of Allah without a doubt. So it is best to follow one of them in the matters of fiqh, because each one established their rulings based on proofs. Fiqh is based on usool (one of the highest sciences of deen). And Allah knows best.