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Over halfway through the campaign, The Bees find themselves in fantasy land.

With four wins in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker banging in the goals, suddenly Bees fans are dreaming of thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

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

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

There is a long way to go yet but Brentford are firmly in the race for European football.

No one was envisioning this last off-season.

The former head coach had departed for Tottenham after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also established them in the top flight.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for the North London club 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 United respectively.

Specialist coach Andrews was elevated to replace the Dane, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

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 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 timing, 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 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 first campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

The 24-year-old has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to sixteen league goals – the most by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He's been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are incredible. 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 shows the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so important for Brentford.

His first goal 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 rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be overstated.

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

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

Considering the struggles he had in his youth, where he labored in construction 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 credit for the type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really unique 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 improving his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the headline act but the team are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had star players – 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 manager left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

Consequently, appointing their set-piece coach, with no previous managerial experience, and just a year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a gamble.

A first managerial job is a challenge for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from specialist coach to the top job.

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 key decision makers 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, Liverpool and Newcastle have since occurred.

Wins that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for European qualification.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. 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 pushing."

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

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