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Over halfway through the season, Brentford are in dreamland.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker scoring the goals, suddenly Bees fans are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive 3-0 win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the top flight – a position that was sufficient to secure European football last season.

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

There's a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are firmly in the race for European football.

No one was envisioning this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed for Tottenham after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also established them in the elite division.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and attacking duo two key forwards – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in the previous campaign – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was elevated to succeed Frank, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

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

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

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

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

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was hindered by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

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 highest tally by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.

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

"He has been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He's a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. His statistics are incredible. 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 Europe's top five leagues to this point highlights the level he is operating at.

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

His opener against the Black Cats was his seventh first goal of a game 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 underestimated.

Prior to 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.

Considering the hardships he had earlier in life, where he labored in construction 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 handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and personalities," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very nicely. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got real determination about his personality. He is improving his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Doubters Incorrect

Igor Thiago is the man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

While they had star players – a host of talent – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team stronger 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 stay up.

Consequently, appointing their set-piece coach, 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, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich boss one candidate was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the right man.

So far, 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 one of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and Newcastle have since occurred.

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

"We are in good form and playing really well. We are playing with courage and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We're happy 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 quickly look very otherwise.

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