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Over halfway through the campaign, The Bees find themselves in a dream scenario.

With four wins in five games, and a Samba striker banging in the goals, suddenly supporters find themselves drifting off with thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A convincing 3-0 win over Sunderland moved their manager's side into fifth in the top flight – a place that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last term.

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

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

Few was envisioning this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed 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 two key forwards – who scored a combined of thirty-nine goals in 2024-25 – were also sold, joining Manchester United and Newcastle United respectively.

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

A year of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was forecast. But here we are in the new year with the club in the upper echelons.

So, what is behind their success?

The Brazilian'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 knew they had a £30m striker already ready and waiting.

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

The 24-year-old has gone about compensating for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to sixteen league goals – the most 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 revelation," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He's a physical specimen, quick, powerful, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, both feet, he can score off both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are incredible. 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 highlights the standard he is playing at.

And it is not just the volume 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. Considering how often we are told the importance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can depend on to take that first big chance cannot be overstated.

Prior to the game against their opponents, 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.

Considering 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.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of praise for the kind of players they bring in and characters," the manager said. "It is really notable. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to forge this path. He has worked for his journey and toiled. 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 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 fear 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 year at the club was seen by those external observers as a huge risk.

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

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.

So far, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at Brentford, it looks as if they were spot on.

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

Results that, following their excellent recent form, 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 conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," he 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 no other option, because things could quickly look very otherwise.

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.