The Germans won the 2016 event in Poland with a 24-17 victory over Spain in the final.

They began their 2018 campaign in similarly dominant form against Montenegro at the Arena Zagreb.

They led 17-9 at half-time in their Group C encounter before ruthlessly pressing home their advantage.

It eventually ended with a winning margin of 32-19.

Spain also won their opening game today.

They triumphed 32-15 over Czech Republic in Group D.

There was disappointing news for hosts Croatia today following their victory over Serbia on day one.

Captain Domagoj Duvnjak only recovered from a knee shortly before the competitions, but suffered a fresh injury to his right leg which is now expected to force him out for at least the remainder of the preliminary round.