Nikolić and Bayer 04: A perfect liaison

“Oh well,” said the main striker and waves it away with a smile, “of course, five goals in the first nine games isn’t bad. But, at the end of the day, I only benefit from the performance of the team as the player up top.” Modesty is currently an added extra with Milena Nikolić as the 28-year-old striker delivers reliably. The late opening goal on 89 minutes in the 2-0 home win against Duisburg, a brace in the 2-2 draw at Frankfurt, the final strike in the 3-0 win against Werder Bremen and the goal to make it 2-0 against newcomers Meppen – happy is the coach who can field a striker of that quality. “Her goals speak for themselves and help us enormously. On top of that, Milena is a plus with her outstanding teamwork and she enjoys great acceptance in the team,” said Bayer 04 coach Achim Feifel, who has looked after the 1.83 metre tall striker since the summer of 2019.

Their paths almost crossed six years ago. Nikolić was playing for ŽFK Spartak Subotica in Serbia. The team were champions and reached the knockout rounds of the UEFA Champions League with three clear victories in the group stage. The opponents in the Round of 32 in October 2013 were FK Rossiyanka from Russia, where Achim Feifel had been working as the coach up to a few months before that. For Subotica, the exit from the Champions League came after a 4-2 defeat and a 1-1 draw but Milena Nikolić did achieve an historic success: She was the top scorer in the competition in 2013/14 with eleven goals – although her team only played five games. “Two hat-tricks and a four-goal haul in the first three games: I didn’t believe it could work out so well for me.”

Nikolić was suddenly a big name in European women’s football and in the following seasons she won numerous national titles with her team and was voted the best player in Serbia in 2015. After four league titles and three cup triumphs with Subotica – she had previously won the cup in Serbia with her former club Mašinac Niš – the time appeared to be right for a move abroad. When her agent came up with an offer from German club SC Sand in 2016, Nikolić did not hesitate: “It was exactly the right moment for me to start a new adventure at the age of 23.”

A big step for the girl from Trebinje, a small town with a population 30,000 at the south tip of Bosnia on the border with Montenegro. “The first six months were very difficult. Language was a problem and I didn’t play much. It took me a while to settle in and get used to the pace of the game in the Bundesliga,” said Nikolić. The one year of German at school was not particularly helpful. “I learned the language from scratch and also worked two or three time a week with my language teacher,” she said. And lessons overcome borders: The man is in Serbia, the lessons are online. But learning on the computer brought the hoped-for progress – as did the work on the pitch. Both in terms of football and language, Nikolić increasingly battled her way through at Sand and in 2017 she succeeded in making it through to the cup final against VfL Wolfsburg – in spite of the 2-1 defeat an impressive experience: “It was a great experience in front of 18,000 spectators in Cologne.”

In the end, three years at Sand, a district in the Baden small town of Willstätt, saw her make 44 Bundesliga appearances and score 12 goals – injury prevented much higher numbers in both categories. A muscle injury and a protracted back injury cost Nikolić the whole of the second half of the season in 2018/19. A factor that was to play an important part in the move to Leverkusen in 2019: “There were offers from other clubs,” said Nikolić. “But I also looked for a club that had the best medical support.”

When she saw the comprehensive technical and personnel rehab options in the Werkstatt in the West Stand at the BayArena, she knew that she had found what she was looking for. The first year of the liaison between Nikolić and the Bayer 04 Women had a happy ending with top-flight status maintained late on in the campaign. She assessed the five goals she contributed over the course of the season as “leaving room for improvement but I did provide seven or eight assists.” This season – the prediction does not appear wide of the mark – she should easily be able to exceed that number. “We’ve got big plans ourselves. The team has learned a lot from last season, we’ve made some good signings and not so many injuries. I think we’ll finish mid-table this term,” said the striker, noted for her strength in the air, who likes to read in her time off and sees herself as a “very helpful person”. She embodies the latter on the pitch when Nikolić powerfully opens up space for her team and wins possession: “It doesn’t matter if I’m on good or bad form on the day, I go into every game full of passion.”

Her contract runs to the summer of 2021 and she definitely wants an extension. “I’m very happy and satisfied at Bayer 04.” Her coach is also happy to have her in his team. “Milena is following clear sporting targets. I see even more potential in her,” declared Achim Feifel.

Milena Nikolić would probably greet that praise with a “Oh well” and a smile on her face...