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Over halfway through the season, The Bees find themselves in dreamland.

With four wins in their last five outings, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

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

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

There's a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are firmly in the fight for continental football.

No one was predicting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had left for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also established them in the top flight.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Set-piece coach Keith Andrews was promoted to succeed the Dane, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A season of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. But here we are in January with Brentford in the top five.

So, how have they managed it?

The Brazilian's Historic Season

Brentford's decision not to bring in another striker was in part down to timing, with Wissa's move not being finalized until deadline day.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in the summer for a then-record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

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

Given the countrymen who have come before him, that is some accomplishment, especially with 17 games left to play.

"He's been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Good with his feet, either foot, he can score off both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. These numbers 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 playing at.

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

His first goal against the Black Cats was his 7th opener of the season. Given 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 underestimated.

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

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

Given the struggles he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to support his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the type of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special 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 skill set constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a pretty complete centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Sceptics Incorrect

Their star striker is the man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had key individuals – Ivan Toney, Christian Eriksen, Mbeumo and Wissa – under Frank, 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 their parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year at the club was seen by those external observers as a huge risk.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from set-piece coach to the top job.

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

To date, as often seems to be the case with the brains trust at Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

Andrews won just a single of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against Manchester United, the Reds and Newcastle have since occurred.

Wins that, following their excellent recent run, could prove increasingly important in the race for Europe.

"We're in fine fettle and playing really well. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with or without the ball," he added. "We're pleased 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 little choice, because things could rapidly look very otherwise.

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