Thousands of Aston Villa fans fill streets to celebrate Europa League victory

[p]Supporters decked out in the club's claret and blue colours waved flags and let off flares as they lined the streets of Birmingham to watch their heroes parade the trophy.[/p][p]They cheered and chanted as the players, medals hanging around their necks, made their way by open-top bus from the club's ground to Centenary Square in the city centre, where an estimated 23,000 fans had gathered.[/p][p][b]"I'm just over the moon, it means everything,"[/b] one fan told the BBC, while another described the victory on Wednesday as [b]"the best night of my life".[/b][/p][embed guid="a59744f7-f9ca-49e5-9de1-5a98229b28d4" url="https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/2057512563093676145" social-type="twitter" /][p]Unai Emery's side ended their trophy drought with a [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/aston-villa-W00wmLO0/freiburg-fiEQZ7C7/?mid=IefockNE"]stylish 3-0 win[/a] against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/freiburg/fiEQZ7C7/"]Freiburg[/a] in Istanbul, thanks to goals from [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/tielemans-youri/GtkTQyib/"]Youri Tielemans[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/buendia-emiliano/dYDvGYIu/"]Emiliano Buendia[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rogers-morgan/lp4jm80n/"]Morgan Rogers[/a].[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/aston-villa/W00wmLO0/"]Villa[/a]'s first trophy since the 1996 League Cup was also their first major European prize in 44 years.[/p][p][b]"You've been through so much pain, so much disappointment, but this group of players have provided so much satisfaction the last couple of years," [/b]said captain John McGinn, addressing fans using a microphone.[/p][embed guid="0eec6797-5eb5-4b72-b593-fbe28d5b6230" url="https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/2057534837678862593" social-type="twitter" /][p]Emery dedicated the trophy to the club's fans.[/p][p][b]"Our heart is your heart, your heart is our heart. We are together – up the Villa," [/b]said the Spaniard.[/p][embed guid="6fbecf9d-9435-4926-b5a0-8fd6b1802f6d" url="https://x.com/AVFCOfficial/status/2057525832789475380" social-type="twitter" /]