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Over halfway through the season, The Bees are in fantasy land.

With victories in five games, and a Brazilian striker banging in the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A emphatic 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure European football last term.

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

There's a long way to go yet but Brentford are firmly in the race for continental football.

No one was envisioning this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had left for Spurs 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 the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

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

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

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

Brentford's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with Wissa's move not going through until deadline day.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 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 gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his double against Sunderland taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

Given the countrymen who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He is physically intimidating, quick, powerful, but more skilled 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 pleased. 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 highlights the standard he is operating at.

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

His opener against the Black Cats was his 7th first goal of a game of the season. Given how often we are told the significance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can rely 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 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.

Given the struggles he had earlier in life, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure 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," the manager said. "It is really notable. He is a really unique person who has fitted into life very nicely. 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 developing his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Sceptics Incorrect

Igor Thiago is the headline act but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – a host of talent – under Frank, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing Andrews, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A first managerial job is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap 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 convinced 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.

Andrews won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and Newcastle have followed.

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

"We are in good form and playing really well. We are playing with bravery and belief in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We're 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 no other option, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

But, for now, Brentford are beating the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to fruition those aspirations of Europe will become.