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Over the midpoint of the season, The Bees find themselves in fantasy land.

Following four wins in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters are envisioning thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

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

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

There's a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the battle for European football.

Few was envisioning this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

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

Set-piece coach Andrews was elevated to succeed the Dane, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A season of struggle, possibly even relegation, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with Brentford in the upper echelons.

So, how did they pull it off?

The Brazilian's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to bring in another striker was in part down to timing, with Wissa's move not being finalized 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-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his debut campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

Thiago has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his double against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a Brazilian in a single English top-flight campaign.

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

"He has been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He's a physical specimen, quick, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics 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 underscores the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so pivotal for his team.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his 7th first goal of a game 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 overstated.

Before 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%.

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

Given the struggles 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 unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really notable. He is a really special person who has adapted to life very nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the headline act 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 their previous boss, 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 collective quality of their parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with no previous managerial experience, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

A first managerial job is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the Premier League and having made the jump from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other option that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

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

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

Results that, following their excellent recent run, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for European qualification.

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

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 rapidly look very otherwise.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the odds. And the longer that lasts, the closer to reality those aspirations of the continent will become.