Ghanaian Sabit Abdulai has gone from having no club to B teams to facing Messi

Getafe youngster Sabit Abdulai had to pinch himself on 22 April to make sure he was not dreaming as he took to the same pitch as Argentine legend Lionel Messi.

The 21-year-old, who is on loan at Getafe from second-tier Extremadura, has been in Spain since 2017 but administration issues and struggles to impress mean that his first-team chances have been limited.

His original loan was to play for Getafe's third-tier B team but his performances for them have led to some cameo's for the first-team, including one as a second-half substitute in a 5-2 loss to Spanish giants Barcelona.

"Before the Barcelona match, I had the feeling that I was going to get maybe 5-10 minutes playing time but when the coach made the selection, he kept one or two best midfielders on the bench," Abdulai told BBC Sport Africa.

"So I told myself maybe even if there were going to be substitutions it would be them because they are the starters.

"When we went for half-time in the dressing room the coach mentioned my name that I should go and warm up. I said: 'Me?!' He said: 'Yes, you.' I was surprised. I can't even describe it. I was overwhelmed.

"When the referee whistled for the start of the second half, my mind was focused on the game but when I was getting close to [Lionel] Messi, I was asking myself: 'Is this Messi I am going to meet?'. I couldn't believe it.

"Me against Messi, (Antoine) Griezmann, (Gerard) Pique, (Sergio) Busquets... Although the result wasn't good for us, I felt happy playing against those kind of players."