So, when it comes to picking the year’s best stories, I let the numbers speak for themselves. I went back through the analytics and looked at the 11 stories you, the readers, kept reading and re-reading.

Super-agency CAA Sports looks to have learned from last year’s lackadaisical summer season of international friendlies in Toronto. On Monday Major League Soccer announced that Juventus will face Sporting Lisbon at BMO Field on July 23. The match will be part of the Herbalife World Football Challenge, a series of friendlies held throughout North America which includes a July 18 match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and Manchester City.

Thursday was a good day for ex-Toronto FC players. Maurice Edu, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 SuperDraft and rookie of the year that same season, scored the goal that sent Rangers through to the final 16 of the Europa Cup a minute and a half into stoppage time against Sporting Lisbon.