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More than halfway through the season, The Bees are in fantasy land.

Following four wins in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A comprehensive 3-0 win over the Black Cats moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the top flight – a place that was good enough to secure Champions League football last term.

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

There's a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are firmly in the battle for continental football.

Few was forecasting this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed for Tottenham after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club promoted but also cemented them in the elite division.

Club captain Christian Norgaard left for Arsenal and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in 2024-25 – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

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

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

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Campaign

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was in part down to circumstance, with one forward's move not being finalized until the final day of the window.

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

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

The 24-year-old has gone about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against the Wearside club taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

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

"He has been a revelation," pundit Danny Murphy said. "He is a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score with 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 shows the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume but the crucial nature of the goals that have been so pivotal 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 depend on to take that first big chance cannot be overstated.

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

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

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

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and personalities," Andrews said. "This is really notable. He is a really unique person who has adapted to life very well. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is improving his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Doubters Wrong

Igor Thiago 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 Frank, they were always seen as a team stronger than the sum of their parts.

The concern was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of their parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

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 huge risk.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, let alone when it comes in the Premier League and having made the jump from specialist coach to the manager's office.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other alternative that the hierarchy looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the right man.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at the club, it looks as if they were correct.

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

Results that, following their brilliant recent form, could prove all the more important in the race for European qualification.

"We're in good form and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and belief in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We are 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 eight points, they have little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

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