JUVENTUS' talismanic skipper Alessandro Del Piero ensured it was another cruel night at the Stadio Delle Alpi for Sir Bobby Robson.

The Newcastle manager, who as England boss suffered his "worst moment in football'' when West Germany won the 1990 World Cup semi-final here in an infamous penalty shoot-out, was out of luck again.

United's Champions' League hopes were all but destroyed by two second-half goals from Italy superstar Del Piero.

Robson's side had fought bravely to contain the Italian title holders in this Group E encounter until Del Piero struck first in the 65th minute.

It was unfortunate for United as defender Nikos Dabizas pulled down Del Piero on the edge of the penalty area.

Dabizas was booked, which means he is banned for the return at St. James' Park in three weeks' time, and Del Piero dispatched the resultant free-kick with a curling right-foot effort.

Newcastle skipper Alan Shearer saw a header disallowed for offside three minutes later.

But Del Piero crushed United's chances of a comeback with his second goal nine minutes from time when he swept the ball home from just inside the 18-yard box on the end of Edgar Davids' cross.

Del Piero has been practising his cunning craft to deadly effect this season; he has now scored ten goals in his seven outings in all competitions.

Only two English clubs have won here - Arsenal in the now-defunct Cup Winners' Cup in season 1979-80, and Manchester United en route to Champions' League glory in 1999.

A dozen others apart from Newcastle have failed to crack the Turin giants at this fortress, 11 of them losing.

Consequently, Newcastle's European credentials were under scrutiny like never before against a side unbeaten this season.

Such is the confidence, and even conceit of this Juve side, that Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon had proudly boasted in the build-up to the match that the current squad is well on the way to becoming the greatest in the club's history.

If that was meant to crank up the pressure on Newcastle, it scarcely had the desired effect early on.

The Magpies came close to taking the lead in the first minute when Kieron Dyer delivered a low ball in from the right and Shearer saw his shot blocked by the alert Lilian Thuram.

From the resulting corner, Davids was forced to head Laurent Robert's inswinger off the line.

As predicted, Robson deployed Dyer as an attacking fulcrum behind Shearer, with 19-year-old midfielder Jermaine Jenas making his first appearance in the Champions' League group stage.

Less expected, however, was Robson's decision to detail full-back Andy Griffin to man-mark Czech schemer Pavel Nedved in a move that bore shades of the role Aaron Hughes performed to quell the threat of Roma's Francesco Totti in the UEFA Cup three years ago.

But Nedved escaped Griffin's attentions in the fourth minute when he crossed from the right to the far post where striker Marco Di Vaio nodded wide.

Davide Baiocco then went down in the penalty area under the challenge of Dabizas, and words were exchanged as the Newcastle defender claimed the midfielder had taken a dive.

Immediately, play switched to the other end where Robert's looping effort had Buffon back-pedalling as it dropped just over.

And a great chance went begging for United in the ninth minute when Nolberto Solano served up a superb deep centre to the unmarked Shearer, who failed to connect cleanly with his volley.

In a frantic opening spell, Thuram crossed for Di Vaio, but Dabizas made a magnificent challenge to thwart the danger.

There were then anxious looks all round during a lengthy delay as Di Vaio received urgent on-pitch attention from Juve's worried medical staff following an apparent clash of heads with United defender Andy O'Brien.

An ambulance was called and sped along the perimeter running track to rush an unconscious Di Vaio to hospital where it later emerged he was recovering while undergoing tests.

France striker David Trezeguet took his place and within three minutes produced a stunning volley which was brilliantly tipped over by Shay Given in the Newcastle goal.

Trezeguet was close again when he contrived to lift the ball over from Del Piero's corner.

And Del Piero was mighty near with a piledriver from 25 yards which cannoned off the crossbar.

Juve should have gone ahead as half-time approached when defender Mark Iuliano was somehow unable to get on the end of a Del Piero free-kick.

But Newcastle were still causing the home side problems on the break and when Dyer scampered down the right to pull the ball back from the byline, Shearer miskicked again and Robert's shot was pushed out by Buffon.

It was nevertheless a satisfying scoreline for United at the interval, though they were soon on the back foot again after the turnaround when Baiocco whipped the ball in from the right and O'Brien brought off a last-ditch interception to deny Trezeguet.

The hitherto impressive Jenas was then guilty of a careless waste of possession when he lost out to Davids, who quickly fed Nedved.

But when Nedved centred, Trezeguet could only guide his header straight at Given.

* A Newcastle XI will tonight visit Brunton Park to face Carlisle in a friendly.

* Dynamo Kiev had to settle for a point in their Group E game against Feyenoord in Rotterdam.

It was an improved performance following last week's 5-0 drubbing to Juventus, but Dynamo have now failed to win for their last eight away matches in the competition.

Chances were at a premium with Pierre van Hooijdonk for the hosts and Olexandr Melaschenko for Dynamo coming closest to breaking the deadlock.

Result: Juventus: 2 Newcastle United 0.

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