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More than the midpoint of the season, Brentford find themselves in fantasy land.

Following victories in five games, and a Samba striker scoring 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 the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure European football last term.

Solely leaders Arsenal have collected more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There is a significant distance to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the fight for continental football.

Few was envisioning this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also cemented them in the top flight.

Skipper 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 out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the off-season arrivals.

A season of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the upper echelons.

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was partly down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until the final day of the window.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by injury in his debut campaign, going goalless in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his double against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a Brazilian in a single English top-flight campaign.

Considering the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches left to play.

"He's been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder an analyst said. "He is physically intimidating, quick, strong, but more skilled than people think. Good with his feet, both feet, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are fantastic. He must be so pleased. 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 level he is operating at.

And it is not just the quantity but the crucial nature 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. 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.

Before the game against their opponents, no player to have attempted at least 30 shots this season has a better shooting accuracy than Igor Thiago's 59.1 percent.

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

Given the hardships he had in his youth, where he labored in construction 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 takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," the manager 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 serious grit about his personality. He is improving his skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Sceptics Wrong

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

While they had key individuals – a host of talent – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

The fear was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of their 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 challenge for anyone, let alone when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from set-piece coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich Town manager one candidate was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

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

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

Results that, following their excellent recent run, could prove all the more important in the race for Europe.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with courage and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We are 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 little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

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