Germany will be aiming to defend their title at the 2018 European Men’s Handball Championship, which is scheduled to begin in Croatia tomorrow ©Getty Images

Germany will be aiming to defend their title at the 2018 European Men's Handball Championship, which is scheduled to begin in Croatia tomorrow.

The Germans, who beat Spain 24-17 in the 2016 final in Polish city Kraków, have been drawn in Group C of the preliminary round along with Macedonia, Montenegro and Slovenia and will play their matches at the Arena Zagreb.

They are due to begin their campaign against Montenegro on Saturday (January 13), just prior to Macedonia's clash with Slovenia.

Group D is also scheduled to get underway on Saturday at the Varaždin Arena, with four-time beaten finalists Spain facing Czech Republic and Olympic champions Denmark going up against Hungary.

Hosts and two-time Olympic gold medallists Croatia have been drawn in an extremely competitive-looking Group A and will do battle with Iceland, arch rivals Serbia and four-time champions Sweden at the Spaladium Arena in Split.

Tomorrow’s action sees Iceland meet Sweden and Croatia face Serbia.

Serbia's centre back Stefan Vujic is set to make his competitive debut for the country against Croatia, from whom he changed allegiance in November after failing to establish himself as a regular starter.

Hosts Croatia are due to begin their campaign tomorrow against arch rivals Serbia ©Getty Images
Hosts Croatia are due to begin their campaign tomorrow against arch rivals Serbia ©Getty Images

"There will probably be insults from the terraces but I will not pay any attention to that," he was reported as saying by Reuters. 

"I am sure the home fans will not invade the court to attack us amid the tight security and they will certainly do themselves no favours if they cause trouble."

World champions France headline Group B as they aim to reclaim the title they relinquished to Germany in 2016.

The three-time winners will open their bid for glory against Norway at the Žatika Sport Centre in Poreč tomorrow.

The match will be a repeat of last year’s World Championship final in Paris, where France triumphed 33-26.

The other two teams in Group B are Belarus and Austria, who will meet each other in the opening game tomorrow.

The top three teams from each preliminary group will qualify for the main round, which will be made up of two groups of six.

The top two from each of the main-round groups will progress to the semi-finals.

The final is due to take place at Arena Zagreb on January 28.