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Over halfway through the campaign, The Bees are in dreamland.

Following victories in their last five outings, 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 3-0 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.

Solely leaders the Gunners have accumulated more points over the past six games.

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

No one was forecasting this last summer.

Thomas Frank had departed for Spurs after a seven-year stint in charge, a period in which he had not only guided the club promoted but also cemented them in the top flight.

Skipper their Danish midfielder left for Arsenal and attacking duo two key forwards – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Andrews was promoted to succeed the Dane, while there was a notable absence of a centre-forward among the summer signings.

A year of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was widely predicted. Yet here we are in the new year with Brentford in the upper echelons.

So, what is behind their success?

Igor Thiago's Record-breaking Season

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

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

Igor Thiago joined from Club Brugge in the summer for a then club record fee, but was plagued by injury in his first campaign, going goalless in eight appearances.

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

Given the fellow Brazilians who have preceded him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with 17 games left to play.

"He has been a revelation," pundit an analyst said. "He is physically intimidating, fast, powerful, but technically better 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 huge compliment to him."

That only a trio of global superstars have scored more in any of the continent's major leagues to this point underscores the level he is playing at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so pivotal for his team.

His opener against the Black Cats was his seventh opener of the season. Considering 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.

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

He hits the target. Do 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 support his family following the death 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 kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really notable. He is a really special person who has fitted into life very well. He has had to earn this path. He has earned his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is improving his skill set constantly and we are discovering more and more about him. He is a pretty all-round centre-forward."

The Manager Proving Sceptics Wrong

Igor Thiago is the man of the moment but the team 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 stronger than the sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of Brentford's 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 outside the club as a huge risk.

A maiden role is a test for anyone, especially when it comes in the world's toughest league and having made the leap from specialist coach to the top job.

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

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

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

Results that, following their excellent recent run, could prove increasingly important in the pursuit for Europe.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really well. We are playing with bravery and belief in everything we do with or without the ball," he 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 eight points, they have little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, Brentford are beating the predictions. And the longer that lasts, the closer to reality those dreams of Europe will become.