All four of England's representatives have advanced for the second straight season, even if two of them — Liverpool and Tottenham — left it to their final matches.
CSKA Moscow defeated Real Madrid 3-0 while Juventus suffered a shock loss to Young Boys in the last group game of the Champions League.
Recently the five-time Ballon d'Or winner came fifth on this year's prestigious France-based award list where Madrid's Luka Modric broke the 10-year long domination of Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Both Marco Asensio and Isco scored two each as Real Madrid thrashed Melilla 6-1 in the Copa del Rey.
Real Madrid bounced back from their 3-0 loss to Eibar with a 2-0 win over Valencia in La Liga on Saturday.
While Isco has had his difficulties in consistently starting for Madrid in the past, none of Solari's predecessors considered him disposable.
Other than them, AS Roma and Ajax also reached the round-of-16 of the Champions League on Tuesday.
Madrid's potential is being questioned again after a troubling performance in its first match since Solari was given the permanent coaching job.
Barcelona denied Atletico Madrid a chance to go on top of the La Liga table with a late equaliser while Real Madrid lost 3-0 to Eibar away from home.
Dignitaries from renowned Spanish clubs such as Atletico de Madrid, Villarreal, Valencia and Deportivo Alaves, among others, gathered here to study the Indian market.
Santiago Solari, who was appointed the coach on an interim basis after Julen Lopetegui was sacked, used to coach Real's 'B' team prior to this.
Benzema has been key since Solari took over from the fired Julen Lopetegui two weeks ago and revamped Madrid.
Solari, a former Madrid player, was appointed as the interim coach but had not been ruled out as a candidate. His chances of staying increased after he led Madrid to four straight victories since replacing Lopetegui.
Betis never trailed as it ended Barcelona's run of 42 unbeaten home games in the league that dated back to a 2-1 defeat to Alaves in September 2016.
Barcelona needed an injury-time goal to win 1-0 at Cultural Leonesa, while Madrid cruised to a 4-0 victory over third-tier Melilla in a first-leg match in the round of 32.
In a recent interview with France Football magazine, five-time Ballon d'Or winner said, "I felt within the club, especially from the president, that I was no longer considered in the same way as I was at the beginning.”
Madrid fired Julen Lopetegui on Monday, saying it was time to "change the team's dynamic while all of its objectives for the season were still reachable."
Lopetegui was finally fired by Real Madrid on Monday, less than five months after he was sacked by Spain before the World Cup for not telling federation officials he accepted the Madrid job.
Luis Suarez scored a hat-trick as he led Barcelona to a 5-0 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid in El Clasico on Sunday.
The victory lifted Barcelona back to the top of the Spanish league with 21 points, while Madrid were left languishing in ninth place with 14 points.
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