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Over halfway through the campaign, Brentford are in a dream scenario.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

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

Only table-toppers Arsenal have gathered more points over the past six games.

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

Few was forecasting this last off-season.

The former head coach had left for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also established them in the top flight.

Club captain Christian Norgaard left for the North London club and goal-scoring duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Set-piece coach Andrews was promoted to succeed Frank, while there was no striker among the summer signings.

A year of struggle, possibly even the drop, was forecast. Yet here we are in January with the club in the top five.

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to timing, with one forward's move not being finalized until deadline day.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already ready and waiting.

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

Thiago has gone 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 Premier League campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He has been a revelation," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, strong, 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. His statistics are incredible. He must be so proud. That's a big compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of Europe's top five 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 vital for Brentford.

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

Prior to the game against Sunderland, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shot accuracy rate than Igor Thiago's 59.1%.

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

Considering 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 unsurprising that high-stakes situations 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 nicely. He has had to earn this path. He has worked for 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 Showing Sceptics Wrong

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

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 collective quality of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, 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 maiden role is a test for anyone, especially 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 Town manager one candidate was the only other option that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the right man.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were correct.

Andrews won just a single of his first five league games in charge but significant home victories against United, the Reds and Newcastle have since occurred.

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

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with courage 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 improving."

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 quickly look very different.

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