Juventus rallied from a bizarre Alex Sandro own goal to battle past Sporting Lisbon 2-1 on Wednesday and move second behind Barcelona in Champions League Group D.

The Portuguese visitors surged ahead after 12 minutes in the Allianz Stadium when the ball accidentally bounced off the Brazilian left-back and into his own net after Gianluigi Buffon had saved from Gelson Martins.

But Bosnian midfielder Miralem Pjanic hauled the hosts back into the game after 29 minutes before Croatian forward Mario Mandzukic headed in the winner six minutes from time.

Juventus – who lost their opening game 3-0 to Barcelona but beat Olympiakos 2-0 with late goals – are second in Group D behind the Spaniards with six points from three games. Sporting are now third.

"It was a tough game, and an important win," said Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini.

"The important thing was not to concede goals but we didn't dwell on it (the own goal), we showed personality."