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

With victories in five games, and a Brazilian striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to European capitals next season.

A comprehensive three-nil win over Sunderland moved Keith Andrews' side into fifth in the top flight – a position that was good enough to secure Champions League football last season.

Only table-toppers Arsenal have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There is a long way to go yet but the West London outfit are squarely in the race for European football.

No one was predicting this last summer.

The former head coach had left for Tottenham after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also established 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 the previous campaign – were out the door, joining Manchester United and Newcastle respectively.

Set-piece 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 year of struggle, possibly even the drop, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the upper echelons.

So, how have they managed it?

The Brazilian's Historic Campaign

Brentford's decision not to sign another striker was partly down to circumstance, with Wissa's move not going through until deadline day.

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

The 24-year-old joined from Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then-record fee, but was plagued by injury in his debut campaign, going without a goal in eight appearances.

Thiago has gone 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 Premier League campaign.

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He's physically intimidating, quick, powerful, but more skilled 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 fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a big compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point underscores the standard he is operating at.

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

His first goal against the opposition 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 first big chance cannot be underestimated.

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

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

Given the hardships he had in his youth, where he worked as a bricklayer to provide for his family following the passing of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"The recruitment team deserve a lot of praise for the type of players they bring in and personalities," Andrews said. "It is really impressive. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to earn this path. He has worked for his journey and toiled. He has got serious grit about his personality. He is developing his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Doubters Incorrect

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 their previous boss, 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 sum of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to stay up.

Consequently, appointing their set-piece coach, 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, especially when it comes in the Premier League and having made the jump from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna was the only other option that Brentford looked at, they were clearly convinced they had the correct candidate.

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

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

Results that, following their excellent recent form, could prove increasingly important in the race for European qualification.

"We are in good form and playing really good. We are playing with bravery and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," Andrews added. "We're pleased with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where fourth and 15th 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 reality those aspirations of the continent will become.