Excluding a Community Shield defeat to Liverpool, Manchester City lost just six of the 60 games they played during a sensational 2022/23 campaign that included a 6-3 rout of their crosstown rivals, emphatic European wins over Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, and a stunning 4-1 demolition of Premier League runners-up Arsenal.
Two of those half-dozen defeats came against Thomas Frank's plucky Bees. For their first trick, the west Londoners beat Pep Guardiola's all-stars 2-1 on their own patch in November before they bagged all six points on offer against City courtesy of a 1-0 success at Gtech Community Stadium on the final day of the season.
A double over the treble winners was no small achievement, so let’s relive how Brentford managed to throw not one, but two sticks in the spokes of City's unforgettable season.
Manchester City 1 Brentford 2
Man City: Ederson, Stones, Akanji, Laporte, Cancelo (Álvarez 87), Gündoğan, De Bruyne, Silva, Foden, Haaland
Brentford: Raya, Roerslev, Pinnock, Zanka, Mee, Henry, Janelt (Norgaard 62), Jensen, Onyeka (Dasilva 87), Mbeumo (Wissa 73), Toney
In hindsight, Brentford's win over the reigning Premier League champions at Etihad Stadium in November 2022 now looks even more remarkable than it seemed at the time.
The Bees were winless in five games across all competitions ahead of the contest and licking their wounds after a penalty-shootout defeat to League Two Gillingham in the third round of the Carabao Cup.
Brentford had not won an away game in the top flight to that point (four draws, three losses), while City commanded a 100 per cent home record across all competitions following 11 consecutive wins that had yielded 41 goals and saw them concede just nine.
It has been claimed that many players embrace defeat before they even take to the field at the Etihad, but when you review the tape from 12 November - the Saturday before Remembrance Sunday - Brentford's players look ready.
There's Mathias Jensen casually lounging against the glass panelling in the tunnel, Ethan Pinnock sizing up his illustrious opponents, and Ivan Toney staring into space, perhaps visualising what was to come.
Then, the Bees skipper and his City counterpart İlkay Gündoğan led their sides out on a clear day, blue flags swaying as defiant red-and-white scarfs were held aloft.
The entire game is a fascinating case study of how to prevent City playing on their own terms, but the first 10 minutes of the encounter encapsulate everything that was good about Brentford that day.
From kick-off, Jensen passed straight back to David Raya, the Bees' keeper sweeping the ball forward to Toney, who resoundingly set the tone for the afternoon by winning his first aerial duel.
Last season, Brentford won more aerials per game (17.6) than any team in the Premier League, while City - as you'd expect given their sky-high possession stats - won the fewest (11.6). The Bees effectively imposed one of their key strengths and targeted one of their opponents' weaker areas.
It also became immediately apparent that, unlike many visitors to the Etihad, the Bees had no intention of parking the bus. In fact, inside the very first minute, the home crowd was treated to the highly unusual sight of midfield technician Bernardo Silva hacking the ball clear of his own box.
With wing-backs Roerslev and Henry pressing high up the field, the Bees swarmed all over their disorientated hosts - the Londoners' bravery in their pressing was underlined by the fact all 10 outfield players were pushing into City's half.
Only three minutes were on the clock when Brentford carved out their first chance of the afternoon and the manner of its creation was another masterclass in maximising one's strengths.
David Raya (410) played over 100 more accurate long balls than any player in the top flight last season and his goal kick unerringly found target man Toney, who himself won more aerials (109) than any forward in the division.
Bryan Mbeumo flicked on the second ball, Henry cushioned a lovely first-time pass into Frank Onyeka's path, and Ederson pulled off a fantastic save to keep the scoreline level.
After five minutes Brentford were at it again. This time, Henry stormed down the left flank and pinged in a cross that Ederson could only palm to Mbeumo. The Cameroon international crossed to Toney, who drew another smart stop from City's number one.
Those opening 10 minutes serve as a microcosm for the entire game: Brentford were direct, brave, committed and effective.
An epic tussle unfolded. Toney nodded the Bees into the lead on 16 minutes after he latched on to Ben Mee's towering header from a long Raya free-kick.
City pushed on in search of an equaliser but were limited mainly to shots from long range - one 35-yard attempt from centre-back Aymeric Laporte provided irrefutable proof that Brentford were frustrating their hosts.
The interval beckoned, but Frank's side were unable to preserve their lead through no real fault of their own.
However well you play, you cannot legislate for moments of unadulterated quality, and Phil Foden's angled half-volley into the roof of the net from an uncleared De Bruyne corner made it 1-1 in stoppage-time at the end of the first half.
As was to be expected, Brentford were more on the back foot after the break, their 18-yard box pretty much under siege for large swathes of the second period. However, they remained a potent threat on the break with Toney going close on a number of occasions prior to scoring the Bees' winner in the seventh minute of added time.
Only Manchester United (9), Man City and Liverpool (both 7) scored more goals on the counter attack than Brentford last term and the Bees' match winner was a classic sucker punch from their opponents' own corner.
Substitute Yoane Wissa beat De Bruyne to a 50/50 to burst free on the Bees' left and marauded forward to create a three-v-two overload.
Picking the right option in such situations is paramount and Wissa did just that: switching the play to fellow sub Josh Dasilva on Brentford's inside right channel.
City defender Manuel Akanji was on the wrong side with a battle with Toney all game, but his afternoon was set to get even worse - as Dasilva stood up the Swiss international on the edge of the box before driving a right-footed cross into the six-yard box.
Barely in the frame earlier in the move, Toney had bust a gut to catch up the attack and, almost without breaking stride, the striker gleefully swept the ball home from close range to send the Brentford supporters into raptures.
Brentford almost made it 3-1 moments later when Dasilva again surged forward and fed Toney in the box, only for City playmaker De Bruyne to clear off his own line to rob the Bees talisman of the match ball.
After a full 10 minutes of added time, most of which compensated for a pause in play after a head injury to Laporte at the start of the half, Peter Bankes blew the final whistle.
City had taken 29 shots to Brentford's 10 and enjoyed 74 per cent possession. However, well over half of City's efforts on goal were from outside the box and the Bees had fired seven shots on target compared to their hosts' six.
The Bees had blocked 23 shots in total and made an incredible 46 clearances (16 of them by Pinnock who topped the entire division in this stat category last season).
Perhaps most remarkable of all, Brentford didn't finish the game hanging on; they looked organised and full of energy. The body language of the City players, however, told its own story: the eventual treble winners had been well beaten.
Left out of England manager Gareth Southgate's World Cup squad for Qatar 2022 earlier that week, Toney had delivered the perfect riposte to his doubters and his succinct post-match summary spoke volumes about Brentford's mindset against Pep Guardiola's immortals.
"They might be Man City, but they're humans... and humans can lose games."
Brentford 1 Manchester City 0
Brentford: Raya, Hickey (Dasilva 70), Pinnock, Jorgensen, Mee, Henry, Janelt, Onyeka (Baptiste 81), Mbeumo (Ghoddos 89), Wissa (Roerslev 89), Damsgaard (Schade 70)
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Lewis, Aké (Charles 63), Laporte, Gómez, Phillips, Mahrez, Foden, Palmer, Álvarez
Brentford became the only team to do the double over City on the very last day of the 2022/23 Premier League season, the Bees giving the champions a guard of honour before the game.
Pep Guardiola rotated his team ahead of two big finals, but it was still a City team oozing with quality: Ederson remained in goal while Kyle Walker, Nathan Aké, Phil Foden and Julián Álvarez all featured. Cole Palmer also made his 13th and final start for the club prior to his move to Chelsea last summer.
Brentford, meanwhile, were without Mathias Jensen - the midfielder had played every other Premier League game that season. Jensen, Rico Henry and Ben Mee were all one game shy of a full season's worth of league fixtures for the Bees, although David Raya did manage to complete the set.
Another glaring omission was Ivan Toney, the match winner in that late, late victory at the Etihad in November.
While City fans were fantasising about Champions League glory, Brentford had a European dream of their own. After a surge of four wins in five games (including victories over Chelsea and Spurs), Frank's side could have made history by qualifying for Europe had other results gone their way.
It was always a longshot, but the Bees couldn't have done anything more at Gtech Community Stadium.
That epic win at the Etihad, their positive form, and a superb home record all added to Brentford's confidence going into the game. In fact, only three teams (Man City, Man United and Liverpool) lost fewer games at home (1) than the west Londoners (2) last season.
John Brooks got the game underway and the City fashioned the first chance in the sun. Palmer wriggled through the home defence, but his effort was palmed away by Raya.
That early scare seemed to wake the Bees up, their backline limiting the champions to few clear chances for the rest of the game. Brentford's ability to blunt City's forward players was again hugely impressive, with eight of the visitors' 17 shots blocked and six off target.
The hosts grew in confidence as the match went on with Ben Mee - who won more aerials (132) than any player in the Premier League last season - forcing Ederson into a save down at his near post shortly before the interval.
City created little of note for the majority of the second half with Álvarez firing a long-range effort wide. The Bees' back five of Henry, Mee, Ethan Pinnock, Zanka and Aaron Hickey held firm, helped by a strong supporting cast.
Brentford’s winning goal was a fantastically worked move late in the game and it was no surprise that it stemmed from a smart free-kick.
Awarded a foul inside their own half in the 85th minute, it looked as if goalkeeper Raya would launch a long ball into the mixer. However, second-half substitute Kevin Schade set off on a run down the right flank and he was picked out by his goalkeeper.
Some classic wing play from the German saw him reach the touchline before pinging in a cross. Bryan Mbeumo was at the far post and had the chance to head towards goal himself with Ederson scrambling.
Instead, the forward cleverly headed back into the centre of the box where Pinnock - who had just signed a new four-year contract - was in the right place to slam home a left-footed finish.
The goal was Brentford's 23rd of the season from dead-balls (16 from set-pieces, seven from penalties) - no team in the Premier League was more prolific from such situations last term.
Guardiola elected against sending on Erling Haaland for the final minutes of the game and, despite a few scares, Brentford protected their lead and secured a clean sheet.
A final-day shutout was a fitting end to the campaign considering that only the top four (Man City, Arsenal, Man Utd and Newcastle) conceded fewer goals than the Bees (46) throughout 2022/23.
After two very different games against a team soon to be crowned Europe's best, the result was the same: a Brentford win.
The Bees missed out on Europe, but Guardiola was full of praise for Frank's "exceptional team" after the game, saying: “It’s difficult to face them because of how quick they play, how aggressive, how fast, and set-pieces, all departments."
Even back then, however, Guardiola was looking ahead to this season - determined not to get burned by Brentford again!
“Hopefully next season we can do better and beat them... we have a target for next season already.”
Let’s hope not, eh?