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More than the midpoint of the campaign, Brentford find themselves in dreamland.

With victories in their last five outings, and a Brazilian striker scoring the goals, suddenly supporters are dreaming of thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

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

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

There's a long way to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the race for European football.

No one was forecasting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had left for Tottenham 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 total of thirty-nine goals in the previous campaign – were also sold, joining United and Newcastle respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was elevated to replace Frank, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A year of difficulty, possibly even the drop, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in the new year with Brentford in the top five.

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 circumstance, with Wissa's move not being finalized until the final day of the window.

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

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

Thiago has set about making up for lost time this season, though, with his double against the Wearside club taking him to sixteen league goals – the highest tally by a player from Brazil in a single English top-flight campaign.

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

"He has been a breath of fresh air," pundit an analyst said. "He's a physical specimen, fast, powerful, but more skilled than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's brimming with confidence. His statistics are incredible. He must be so pleased. 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 shows the level he is playing at.

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

His opener against the Black Cats was his 7th first goal of a game of the season. Given how often we are told the importance of the first goal in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that first big chance cannot be overstated.

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

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

Given the hardships he had earlier in life, where he labored in construction to provide for his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and personalities," the manager said. "This is really impressive. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has earned his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a largely all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Doubters Wrong

Their star striker is the man of the moment but Brentford are not and have never been a one-man band.

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 individual components.

The concern was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with no previous managerial experience, 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, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the jump from specialist coach to the manager's office.

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 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're in fine fettle and playing really well. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," he added. "We're pleased with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have no other option, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, The Bees are defying the predictions. And the longer that continues, the closer to reality those aspirations of the continent will become.