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Over halfway through the season, Brentford find themselves in dreamland.

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

A comprehensive 3-0 win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a place that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last season.

Only 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 fight for European football.

No one was forecasting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had left 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 elite division.

Club captain Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo two key forwards – who scored a combined of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed Frank, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

A year of struggle, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. 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 sign another striker was partly down to circumstance, 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 Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was hindered by injury in his debut campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

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

Given the countrymen who have preceded him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is a physical specimen, fast, strong, but technically better than people think. Excellent 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 huge compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point shows the standard he is operating at.

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

His opener 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 depend on to take that first big chance cannot be underestimated.

Prior to the game against their opponents, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1%.

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

Given the struggles he had in his youth, where he labored in construction to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be no surprise that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of praise for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really unique person who has adapted to life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Incorrect

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 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 Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

Consequently, appointing Andrews, with a blank managerial CV, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those external observers as a gamble.

A first managerial job is a challenge 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 Town manager one candidate was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

The new boss won just one of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

Results that, following their excellent recent form, could prove increasingly important in the race for European qualification.

"We are in good form and playing really good. We are playing with bravery 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 little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are beating the predictions. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those aspirations of the continent will become.