Let [Formula: see text] be the simple group [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is a prime number. For any subgroup [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text], we compute the Möbius function [Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] in the subgroup lattice of [Formula: see text]. To this aim, we describe the intersections of maximal subgroups of [Formula: see text]. We point out some connections of the Möbius function with other combinatorial objects, and, in this context, we compute the reduced Euler characteristic of the order complex of the subposet of [Formula: see text]-subgroups of [Formula: see text], for any prime [Formula: see text] and any prime power [Formula: see text].