MANCHESTER, England (AP):

Juventus cast aside their domestic woes by coming from behind to beat Manchester City 2-1 in their opening Champions League match, with Alvaro Morata scoring an 81st-minute winner for last season's runners-up yesterday.

Winless in the opening three matches of their title defence in Italy, Juve went behind in their European debut in Group D when defender Giorgio Chiellini - under pressure from Vincent Kompany at a corner - headed into his own net in the 57th minute.

The Italians began the fightback in the 70th when Mario Mandzukic glanced home a whipped cross from Paul Pogba. Morata curled in the winner from outside the penalty area after a long ball forward was deflected into his path.

Juventus lost 3-1 to Barcelona in the 2015 final in June, and saw three key players depart over the summer - Carlos Tevez, Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo - in an overhaul. That perhaps explained their poor start to the Serie A season, which has seen the champions lose two games and draw the other.

With Italy midfielder Claudio Marchisio also missing at Etihad Stadium because of injury, Juve were widely tipped to struggle against a team that had begun the Premier League in rampant fashion with five wins from five games.