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Over halfway through the campaign, The Bees find themselves in a dream scenario.

With four wins 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 emphatic 3-0 win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the Premier League – a place that was good enough to secure Champions League football last season.

Solely leaders the Gunners have accumulated more points over the past six games.

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

Few was envisioning this last off-season.

The former head coach had left for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Set-piece coach Andrews was promoted to succeed the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A year of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was forecast. But here we are in the new year with the club in the top five.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Campaign

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to circumstance, with one forward's move not going through until the final day of the window.

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already waiting to go.

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his double against Sunderland taking him to sixteen league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

Considering the countrymen who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games left to play.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He's a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so proud. That's a big compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point shows the standard he is playing 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 seventh opener of the season. Considering how often we are told the significance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that first big chance cannot be overstated.

Before the game against their opponents, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than the striker's 59.1%.

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

Considering the hardships he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "This is really notable. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is improving his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Sceptics Wrong

Igor Thiago is the headline act but the team are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had key individuals – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team stronger than the individual components.

The fear was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of their parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the Premier League and having made the leap from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager one candidate was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at the club, it looks as if they were vindicated.

Andrews won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against United, Liverpool and Newcastle have since occurred.

Wins that, following their excellent recent form, could prove increasingly important in the race for Europe.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," he added. "We're pleased with how we are going but we want to keep improving."

In a league where fourth and 15th are currently separated by just eight points, they have no other option, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

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