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More than halfway through the season, The Bees find themselves in a dream scenario.

With victories in five games, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive 3-0 win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a place that was good enough to secure Champions League football last term.

Only leaders the Gunners have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There is a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the fight for continental football.

No one was predicting this last summer.

The former head coach had left for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed Frank, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

A season of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was widely predicted. But here we are in the new year with Brentford in the upper echelons.

So, how have they managed it?

The Brazilian's Record-breaking Campaign

The club's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to timing, with one forward's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already chomping at the bit.

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

Considering the countrymen who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games remaining.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, quick, strong, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a big compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point highlights the level he is operating at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so vital for Brentford.

His opener against the Black Cats was his 7th opener of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that early opportunity cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1 percent.

He finds the target. Achieve that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Given the hardships he had earlier in life, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the type of players they bring in and personalities," Andrews said. "This is really notable. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the headline act but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team stronger than the sum of their parts.

The concern was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss one candidate was the only other option that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at the club, it looks as if they were correct.

The new boss won just a single of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against United, the Reds and the Magpies have followed.

Results that, following their brilliant recent form, could prove all the more important in the race for European qualification.

"We're in good form and playing really good. We are playing with courage and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We are happy with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

But, for now, Brentford are defying the odds. And the longer that lasts, the closer to reality those dreams of Europe will become.