FC Brentford is currently unstoppable in the Premier League—and so is Kevin Schade. Will they even qualify for Europe for the first time?
On May 22, national coach Julian Nagelsmann will announce his squad for the Nations League Final Four, and he may not be able to ignore a Premier League player: Kevin Schade, last nominated for the national team in October, is in outstanding form.
After the 23-year-old former Freiburg player scored twice in the 4-3 win over Manchester United last weekend, he was once again the match winner for Brentford on Saturday. Following a corner from 18-goal man Bryan Mbeumo, he scored the 1-0 winner with a well-placed header in the away game against relegated Ipswich Town, which also stood up to a VAR check (18th minute).
Schade thus increased his season tally to eleven goals, with the three-time senior international scoring four times in the last three games alone. Coach Thomas Frank has played him in all 36 games, “only” substituting him in half of them, but that was last in January. Schade has long since established himself and, together with Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa (17 goals), forms a feared trio of strikers that can even compete with FC Bayern and FC Barcelona across Europe.
Thanks to the narrow away win, which was almost snatched away in the closing stages by an Ipswich shot against the post and a brilliant save by keeper Mark Flekken, Brentford still has a chance of qualifying for European competition for the first time in 2025/26. Should Manchester City win the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace, eighth place, which Brentford has jumped into for now, would be enough for Europe. And the form is outstanding: the traditional club, founded in 1889, has not achieved more than its current four consecutive wins in the top flight since 1939.
