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Over halfway through the campaign, Brentford are in dreamland.

With victories in five games, and a Samba striker netting the goals, suddenly Bees fans find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A convincing three-nil win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into fifth in the Premier League – a place that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last season.

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

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

Few was predicting this last off-season.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a total of thirty-nine goals in the previous campaign – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle respectively.

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

A year of struggle, possibly even relegation, was forecast. Yet here we are in the new year with the club in the top five.

So, how have they managed it?

The Brazilian's Historic Campaign

The club's decision not to sign another striker was in part down to timing, with one forward'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 Club Brugge in July 2024 for a then club record fee, but was plagued by injury 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 double against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the most by a player from Brazil in a single Premier League campaign.

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

"He's been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He's a physical specimen, 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 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 operating at.

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

His first goal against the Black Cats was his seventh first goal of a game of the season. Considering 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 30 shots this season has a better shot accuracy rate than Igor Thiago's 59.1 percent.

He hits the target. Achieve 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 death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that high-stakes situations on the pitch is something he takes in his stride.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of praise for the kind 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 forge this path. He has worked for 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 pretty all-round centre-forward."

Andrews Showing Sceptics 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 star players – a host of talent – under their previous boss, they were always seen as a team more effective than the individual components.

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 their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a year 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 world's toughest league and having made the jump from set-piece coach to the top job.

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

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

The new boss won just one of his first 5 league games in charge but big home victories against United, the Reds and the Magpies have since occurred.

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

"We're in good form and playing really good. We are playing with courage 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 improving."

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 otherwise.

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