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

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

A comprehensive 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved their manager's side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a position that was good enough to secure European football last season.

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

There is a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the race for European football.

No one was envisioning this last off-season.

The former head coach had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and attacking duo two key forwards – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

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

A year of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in January with the club in the upper echelons.

So, how did they pull it off?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was in part down to timing, with one forward's move not going through until deadline day.

But they also knew they had a £30 million striker already chomping at the bit.

The 24-year-old joined from Belgium in the summer for a then club record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

The 24-year-old has set about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a Brazilian in a single Premier League campaign.

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

"He's been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He's a physical specimen, quick, strong, but more skilled 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 pleased. That's a huge 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 underscores the standard he is operating at.

And it is not just the quantity but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so pivotal for his team.

His opener 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 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 the striker's 59.1 percent.

He finds the target. Do that often enough 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 no surprise that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "This is really notable. He is a really special person who has adapted to life very well. 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 developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Sceptics Wrong

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 more effective than the sum of their parts.

The concern was that once the Dane left, that may not be the case, and that the sum 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 year at the club was seen by those outside the club as a huge risk.

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 boss Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident 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 one of his first 5 league games in charge but significant home victories against United, the Reds and Newcastle have since occurred.

Results that, following their brilliant recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit 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 are pleased 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 quickly look very different.

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