League competitions were ending in many countries in November, such as in Lithuania. BE1 NFA (or 'Be one National Football Academy', until 2019 run by the federation), and the country's three-time champions from 2017-2019, Suduva, faced off in a promotion-relegation playoff. The former finished second in the second tier, while Suduva finished second last among the 10-member top division.
The first match of the two-legged tie was better managed by the academy side (the odds on their success climbed to 8:1 before kick-off), despite playing from the 37th minute with 10 men. And despite having the ball only 15% of the time in the second half, they still managed to resist strong pressure and score at the death to win 2-1.
However, they didn't advance to the top tier. In the third minute of added time in the second leg, bizarrely played indoors under a roof and on artificial grass, they conceded a freak penalty which, once scored, forced extra time. And then, they went down in the shootout. Quite odd all around.
Indonesia, meanwhile, have also shown that you can win without the ball. One of the sensations of the Asian qualifying campaign for the upcoming FIFA World Cup in North America, they defeated the highly favoured Saudi Arabia at home, climbing up into the playoff positions and just one point off a direct qualification berth.
Interestingly, they had the ball in possession for just 20% of the time in the win. Despite this, they outdid their opponents 6-3 in terms of shots on target.
The team, which includes a number of players from the Dutch league and captain Jay Idzes, who is one of the pillars of Venezia's defence in Serie A, completely outshone their opponents in terms of speed and eventually celebrated a 2-0 win (bookmakers had odds of 20:1 on this exact result).
In the fourth most populous country in the world, where former Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien helped to promote football a few years ago, and almost 56,000 fans watched the match in Jakarta.
For a long time, the Dutch Eredivisie was considered the most offensive league in Europe, but in recent months the Norwegian top flight has been vehemently claiming this title.
There, matches with over 30 shots on target are not at all uncommon, with similar numbers in the second Austrian and Dutch tiers. In the latter of those, there are occasionally wild shootouts. Such as the recent match between AZ Alkmaar's youth team and ADO Den Haag, which saw 46 shots on target! With a ratio of 20:26, it could easily rival an NHL hockey game for shots.
As far as individuals are concerned, Viktor Gyokeres of Sweden stands out from the rest. No one has more goals than him (16) in Europe's top leagues.
In November, the Sporting striker netted 13 goals in all competitions, scoring four times in two separate games - first in a domestic competition against Estrela, then in the Nations League for Sweden against Azerbaijan. Meanwhile, he interspersed those flurries with a hat-trick against Manchester City in the Champions League. Quite incredible form.
Even more remarkable is Gyokeres' reliability. He has played 26 games since the opening round of the Portuguese league in August, failing to score in just seven of those (one of which he appeared in only briefly). He hasn't scored in his last two matches and it's the longest he has been waiting for a goal this season (13 days).
On all four fronts (domestic league, domestic cups, Champions League, and the national team) he is averaging at least a goal per game this season, something not even Erling Haaland or Robert Lewandowski can boast. It seems that hardly anyone can contain this Swedish goal machine in Portugal.
Nijmegen also showed exceptional productivity in a league game against Groningen this month. Going into the match, they had an average of exactly one goal per game (10 games, 10 goals). But then they scored six goals against their opponents, with exactly six shots on target.
The Groningen goalkeeper did not make a single save in the whole match. In his defence, it is fair to say two of the goals were penalties, but still, an alarming performance.