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Over halfway through the season, Brentford are in a dream scenario.

With victories in five games, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly Bees fans are envisioning thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

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

Solely table-toppers Arsenal have accumulated more points over the past half-dozen matches.

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

Few was envisioning this last summer.

The former head coach had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got 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 39 goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Specialist coach Andrews was elevated to replace Frank, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the off-season arrivals.

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

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was in part down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until the final day of the window.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then club record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

Thiago has gone about making up 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.

Given the countrymen who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He's been a breath of fresh air," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He's physically intimidating, quick, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a big compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point underscores the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so important for his team.

His first goal against the opposition was his seventh opener of the season. Given how often we are told the importance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that first big chance cannot be underestimated.

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

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

Considering the hardships he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of praise for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It 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 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 pretty complete centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Incorrect

Their star striker is the man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had key individuals – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the sum of their parts.

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.

Consequently, appointing Andrews, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a gamble.

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from set-piece coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna was the only other option that Brentford 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 correct.

The new boss won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against United, the Reds and Newcastle have since occurred.

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

"We're in fine fettle and playing really well. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," Andrews added. "We're happy with how we are going but we want to keep pushing."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have no other option, 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 aspirations of the continent will become.