CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFIER:Newcastle 0 - Partizan Belgrade 1(1-1 on Aggregate, Partizan win 4-3 on penalties)Milivoje Cirkovic was Partizan's hero as the Serbian champions ripped Newcastle's Champions League dream apart in a dramatic penalty shoot-out last night.

The wing-back calmly converted his side's seventh penalty after Alan Shearer, Kieron Dyer, Jonathan Woodgate and Aaron Hughes had all missed after Ivica Iliev's second-half strike took the tie to extra-time.

Disaster struck for the home side - who held a 1-0 lead thanks to a Nolberto Solano strike during the first leg - on 50 minutes when Albert Nadj's chip into the box allowed Sasa Ilic to roll a pass to Iliev in front of goal, and he made no mistake to draw the aggregate score level at 1-1. Newcastle's response was to throw everything they had at the Serbian champions, but they couldn't stop the game going to extra-time.

Bobby Robson replaced Gary Speed with Jermaine Jenas as extra-time got under way, but still it was Partizan, who posed the greater threat.

Shearer headed wide under pressure from a Solano cross on 100 minutes and picked up a bloody nose for his troubles.

Jenas could have won it within seconds of his arrival when he headed wide from a Hughes cross at the far post, but black and white hearts were in mouths again on 110 minutes when Duljaj worked his way into space but shot straight at Shay Given.

Nadj went a foot wide a minute from the end of extra-time with another long-range strike, but Shearer almost snatched victory at the death only to see Kralj kick away his low free-kick and send the game to a penalty shoot-out.

Shearer hammered the first kick over the bar and Dyer and Woodgate saw the second and third saved by Kralj, but although Ameobi and Lomana LuaLua both converted and Malbasa and Stojanoski failed to, Iliev hammered his side's fifth over the top.

Jenas made up for his miss in the Asia Cup with the first sudden death attempt only for Ilic to level, and after Hughes had fired over, Cirkovic converted to snatch a famous victory.

NEWCASTLE UNITED (4-4-2): Given; Hughes, O'Brien, Woodgate, Bernard; Solano, Dyer, Speed, Viana (Robert, 85); Ameobi, Shearer. Booked: O'Brien.

PARTIZAN BELGRADE (5-3-2): Kralj; Cirkovic, Djordevic, Stojanoski, West, Malbasa; Duljaj, Ilic, Nadj; Iliev, Delibasic. Booked: Malbasa.

Referee: J Wegereef (Netherlands).