A spirited performance from Shamrock Rovers was hugely encouraging in the first leg of their Europa League Third Round qualifier against Juventus, but they slipped to a 2-0 defeat at Tallaght Stadium.

After dumping Israeli side Bnei Yehuda out of the competition in their second round clash, the Hoops were high on confidence going into this game and there was a fantastic atmosphere in the Dublin venue.

However, they were stunned inside the opening three minutes when Juventus took the lead through Amauri. The Brazilian striker linked up well with playmaker Diego before slotting into the net despite the best efforts of Dan Murray to hook it clear.

That slick counter attack caught Rovers offguard, but they responded by putting some decent patterns of play together with Chris Turner and Robert Bayly excelling in centre midfield.

Juventus showed their class in flashes with Simone Pepe coming close with a header and Diego blasted a shot wide following a misplaced pass from Craig Sives.

Murray had a half chance for the home side, but their best chance in the first period fell to Aidan Price, whose header was deflected over by Marco Motta after he had got up to meet James Chambers' corner.

The Italian team were a joy to watch at times with Diego acting as puppeteer in the No 10 role, while Amauri proved to be a constant threat up front for the Serie A gaints.

After the interval, Rovers almost levelled matters when Murray rose highest to connect with Thomas Stewart's cross, but his powerful header was just wide.

Then Turner fired over after a surging run forward before Juventus turned things in their favour and showed just how devastating they can be when Amauri turned his marker and struck the post with his shot.

The former Palermo striker didn't have to wait long to light up the scoreboard again when he headed in Motta's cross following another quick breakaway from the visitors.

Amauri and Alessandro Del Piero had chances late on to add to the scoreline, but both were off-target. So Rovers conceded two away goals and have a lot to do going into next week's second leg, but their overall performance is one that they should be proud of.

Shamrock Rovers: Mannus; Sives, Price, Murray, Stevens; Chambers (Kavanagh 77), Rice (Dennehy 65), Turner, Bayly (Bradley 90), Stewart; Twigg.

Substitutes Not Used: Jennings, Flynn, Murphy, O'Connor.

Juventus: Stoari; Motta, Chiellini, Bonucci, De Ceglie; Pepe, Sissoko, Marchisio (Ekdal 89), Lanzafame (Martinez 51); Diego (Del Piero 82), Amauri.

Substitutes Not Used: Manninger, Grygera, Ferrero, Trezeguet.

Referee: D Fernandez Borbalan (ESP).